The Woman in the Picture
by Kate-lyn89
Summary: Set over ten years, The story follows 20 y/o Beca Mitchell, who takes a picture of a lifetime when her best friend Stacie takes her to Niagara Falls to help re-inspire her to fulfill her life dream of becoming a photographer. The picture becomes her source of inspiration, but what happens when she eventually meets the woman in the picture?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: Hey guys, due to popular demand on my last story, I've started writing a Bechloe story. I think I've written up to chapter 7 so far, and still have no set ending, so it may be a long one, Haha. Thanks RJRMovieFan for your input on this on. I hope you guys enjoy, and please let me know what you think. I always love hearing from you guys.**

* * *

"Aahhhh this is so pretty!" Stacie shouts, running towards the metal barrier, gasping at the giant waterfall.  
Beca chases her tall friend through the heavy crowd. It was easy to keep track of her because she towers over most people. But being super short, Beca found it hard to keep up.  
"Stacie… Wait!" Beca yells, holding her camera firmly in her hand.  
Stacie looks over her shoulder, sniggering at her tiny friend struggling to push through the crowd.  
"Come on Beca!" Stacie waves, laughing, turning back to the amazing view, "God, isn't nature majestic?"  
"When have you ever been interested in nature, Stacie?" Beca scoffs, as she finally makes her way to her friend.  
"I love nature Beca, I just don't always like being in it. Besides, I like grand things, Beca." Stacie rolls her eyes.  
"I thought you only used that fancy term to describe what you're looking for in your sex life." Beca jokes, lifting her camera to take a picture of the offended look on Stacie's face.  
"You know, I really should hit you for that." Stacie glares, putting her hand on her hip.

Beca smirks at her friends attempt at acting super offended. She was getting good at it, it was just Beca knew better.  
"But, you won't because you know it's true." Beca sasses, this time earning a punch in the arm.  
"Watch it, Conrad!" Beca warns, protecting her precious camera.  
"I swear you love that thing more than me." Stacie whines, rolling her eyes.  
Beca adjusts her lens to take another photo, "I do." She says, as she clicks the button, earning her another punch.  
The two best friends turn to watch the powerful waterfall, hearing the rush of the water as it courses towards the river below. The churning water giving off a blinding glare, as the bright sun bares down. Beca takes another photo of the falls, capturing the sparkling spray. Niagara Falls was flowing in all of its glory for its many onlookers.

Beca and Stacie had been friends since they were thirteen, they had been through thick and thin together. When Beca's parents split up, Stacie was there to pick up her pieces. When Stacie had her first broken heart, Beca was there with a shoulder to cry on. As they got older, nothing changed. Stacie was the only person Beca didn't push away, she was a consent pillar in Beca's life, something she always appreciated.  
"Oh Bec look!" She squeals, excitedly, leading over the railing, "It's the boat, Maid of the Mist. That's the boat we're going on."  
Beca looks down to the river and sees the green and white boat traveling towards the waterfall, packed with people. Beca looks a little apprehensive, the boat looked a little old.  
"I don't know, Stace. Do you think it's safe?" Beca eyes the boat nervously.  
"Of course it is, Beca! You're such a worry wart!" Stacie laughs, giving Beca a playful shove.

Beca frowns at her friend, she was always the adventurous one, while Beca was happy taking pictures. It was what she loved to do, capturing moments in time, seeing things that others didn't see. One day, she was going to be a professional, but in the meantime, she had to take as many pictures as she could.  
"You know, for someone who wants to be a landscape photographer, you not very willing to get yourself amongst the action." Stacie comments, for the 100th time.  
Beca rolls her eyes, "I know! I'm trying, ok. I'm just cautious. I don't want to die ending my career before I even start it."  
"But Bec, if you don't take risks, how will you get that amazing once in a life time shot?" Stacie asks, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah yeah." Beca mutters, knowing she was right.

While Beca's pictures were good, they were safe. Every time she entered a photo contest or an art expo, that was always her feedback. Her professors always told her she had to start getting inspired and take a risk. Beca knew she had to start taking more risk, she just didn't want to put her life in danger to do it. Beca looks down at her camera, it was a Leica. Arguably, one of the best brands on the market and Beca's was especially exceptional. It was waterproof, shockproof, freeze proof and dust proof. Ready for any adventure, the problem was, Beca wasn't always ready.  
' _One day.. one day I'll be brave enough to take the perfect shot.'_ Beca thinks, trying to convince herself that those words were true.

…

"I look like an idiot." Beca grumbles, after being forced into a blue plastic poncho.  
Stacie sniggers, the poncho was so big it was wearing Beca.  
"But a very cute idiot." Stacie comments, pretending to make her feel better, but secretly loving how silly her friend looked, taking her phone out taking her own picture.  
Stacie however, looked incredible in this shapeless plastic sack. She pops the hood over her head and poses for Beca as she takes a few snaps, causing many around them to stop and giggle at the girl's confident display.  
"How do you look this good in a stupid plastic poncho?" Beca shakes her head, looking at the pictures.  
"What can I say? It's my animal magnetism." She gloats, before striking a fierce pose.  
Beca laughs, "Animal magnetism? That's for attracting people, you nimrod!"  
"Who's says I'm not?" Stacie says, winking at a passing blonde.  
The blonde lets out giggle, before blushing so hard that she immediately removes herself from the situation.

"Smooth." Beca smirks at Stacie's attempt to pick up.  
"Ah well, that wasn't meant to be, but still, my pick up rate is much higher than yours." Stacie informs, as the line up to get on the boat.  
"Well, that's not exactly hard, Stace." Beca shakes her head, having only had two boyfriends and one oddly sexual confusing crush on a stunning German exchange student.  
"What can I say, Bec, I love love!" She hugs herself.  
"You love sex." Beca corrects, causing the old lady behind her to choke on her drink.  
"Nothing wrong with a love for sex, girls." She laughs, once she stops coughing, "Also, nothing wrong with a love for sex with girls."  
"Gran!" Her granddaughter scowls, she apologises profusely, as she steers her away.  
Beca and Stacie turn to each other and burst out laughing, but being 20 years old, hearing old ladies talk about sex was extremely amusing.  
"Granny after my own heart." Stacie coos, placing her hand over her heart.

Beca shakes her head at her impossible friend. They had taken so many trips together over the over the years, that they had more than their fair share of stories. But with them in college now, they didn't get to travel as often as they would like. But they were from New York, so they didn't often have to travel too far to get somewhere amazing. Stacie was always finding new and amazing places for them to go so Beca could take pictures. Stacie was more of an experience person, even if she was a woman of science. She loved nothing more than experiencing the world for what it was, not just seeing it for what it was made up of.  
"Are you ready, Beca?" Stacie grabs Beca's arm, shaking it excitedly.  
"Sure… I think." Beca gulps, as the line to enter the boat had started to move.

They get on board a bi-level boat, staying on the lower level. Stacie takes Beca's hand and drags her through the crowd to get a good spot at the bow of the boat.  
"Well, that was easy." Stacie sighs, happily, as she comes to a stop.  
"Yeah, good thing you're not pushy or people would be mad at you." Beca huffs, glancing at the annoyed people Stacie left in her wake.  
"They'll get over it, Bec." Stacie says, wrapping her arm around Beca's shoulder, "Isn't this great? How have we lived our whole lives in New York and never been to Niagara Falls?"  
Beca's stomach starts to fill with excited butterflies, as nervous as she was, it was still a pretty awesome place to be and it was a photographer's paradise.  
"I don't know! But ok, yeah it's pretty cool." Beca says, forcing a smile, willing her nerves to chill out.  
"Calm down, Beca. Don't get too excited!" Stacie jokes, at Beca's always passive demeanour.  
Beca shoves Stacie slightly, "I am excited, I promise. I'm just nervous, I'll be fine though."

After about 15 minutes, the boat was ready to go. Stacie couldn't stop smiling, it was one of the things on her bucket list.  
"Beca!" She squeals, clutching her tiny friend.  
Beca laughs at her friend, the only reason she was on the boat was because of her. She was happy to take photos from the American side of the falls, but Stacie wasn't happy with that. She made them drive over the border into Canada and do it properly. As mad as Beca was, she was glad she did. As they were getting closer to the falls, Beca's brain started buzzing with inspiration. Beca gets her camera out ready, making sure everything was set to take her best pictures yet.

"Listen to that noise!" Stacie gasps, closing her eyes, letting the incredible roar wash over her.  
They weren't even close enough to get close pictures but you could already feel the power emulating from the waterfall. Beca takes a couple of pictures, trying to get the right angle. It was hard with so many tourists bumping into her. The boat moves forward, getting closer to the beast of water. Beca's heart pounds with excitement, she hadn't felt this way in ages. Maybe taking little risks weren't so bad, at least she was somewhat safe on the boat.  
"Hey Stace, your cute blonde friend is over there staring at you." Beca spies, looking through her view finder.  
"Oooh, maybe it was meant to be." Stacie beams, looking at the pretty blonde woman, "I'll be back."  
"Stacie.. don't leave m… and she's gone!" Beca sighs, exasperatedly, she loved Stacie, but her vagina was exhausting.

Beca turns back to the waterfall, they were getting closer. The roar was even louder now, Beca could feel the force of the water pushing the boat back. It was absolutely incredible. The cool water splashes up on Beca's face, she hadn't felt so alive in such a long time. She feels her inspiration starting to rise, as she pulls out her camera. She looks through her view finder, lining up her shots as she starts clicking away. Beca looks up smiling, feeling like she was getting some amazing shots. Beca looks to her left and sees a woman with beautiful curly red hair hovering near the point of the bow. She looks even more amazed than Stacie did. Beca can't help be smile at the beautiful awe that was radiating from her face. Beca looks back down at her camera, getting ready to take another shot. She lines it up, but hears a few gasps to her left. Not taking her eye away from the camera, she turns and spies the beautiful red head, who had climbed up on the lower railing of the bow. She had her arms spread wide, as if she was embracing the power from the water. She had her eyes closed, enjoying the cool spray on her face. At the moment, she looked incredibly free.

 ***click***

Beca takes the picture, before realising she had leaned all the way over the railing to get the right angle. She hadn't even noticed that she had done that, she must have reacted on instinct. She could have fallen out of the boat. Beca blinks at her own recklessness, taking a deep breath, feeling a surge of adrenaline coursing through her body. She looks up to see the beautiful redhead, but she was gone. For a split second, Beca thought she had gone overboard. But she spies a glimpse of red hair moving back through the crowd. Beca breathes a sigh of relief, as she looks down at her picture. She gasps, it was incredible. The she was, her hair blowing beautifully from the force of the water, the sparkling water droplets catching the sun as they shower down over her like dazzling crystals. The picture was taken from the side of her, but it was enough to capture the look on her face, it was so content and free. She looked like nothing could stop her from doing anything, she was one with herself. All of this coupled with the amazing waterfall in front of her, made it one of the best pictures Beca had ever taken. A weird bubble of feelings start to rise in Beca's chest, it took her a moment to realise, but it was elation and pride.

...

Stacie slumps onto her hotel bed, somehow exhausted for the day. Beca wasn't sure how, Beca drove the last leg through Buffalo and over the bridge into Canada. Stacie slept most of the way. Beca sits on the other bed, with her laptop out, uploading her day's work. She hadn't been this happy with her work maybe ever. She could help but grin to herself as she watches her pictures pop up onscreen.  
"Get some good shots?" Stacie asks, noticing the almost unrecognisable smile on her face.  
"I did!" Beca nearly bursts, she was so happy, "Thanks for dragging me on that boat."  
"That's what best friends do, Bec. Drag you into things you don't want to do until you start enjoying them." Stacie smirks, into her pillow.  
"So, if I start dragging you to galleries, you'll eventually start to enjoy them?" Beca asks, questioningly.  
"No Beca, nobody but you enjoyed those." Stacie deadpans, though she was deadly serious.

Beca laughs, going back to her laptop. Moving pictures to her editing program, so she could work on them straight away. Her inspiration hadn't dwindle since leaving the boat. Beca was so excited to work on these pictures for her portfolio. Stacie watches from her bed, smiling at her best friend. She hadn't seen Beca look this excited in such a long time. She decided on this last minute road trip up here a few days ago. Beca had been feeling like she was going to give up on photography, she had been having trouble finding inspiration and drive to take pictures. Everything she took was mediocre, something her professors told her on a daily basis. Though, Stacie always thought Beca was better and happier before she went to study photography. Beca was better when she wasn't so stressed out about getting specific shots.

Beca only had a year left to go, they were pushing her towards modelling photography, something Beca wasn't interested in. Her professors told her she wasn't cut out for nature and landscape photography. But looking at her pictures now, Beca knew they were wrong.  
"So, are you going to keep grinning like a lunatic or are you going to show me your pictures?" Stacie sits up, looking over to the laptop.  
Beca picks up her laptop and moves over to Stacie's bed.  
"Here." Beca shows her the screen.  
"Wow! Beca! It looks like the water is still moving. These are amazing, I haven't seen you take anything like this since we left high school." Stacie scrolls through the pictures.  
Beca feels her pride swell in her chest, Stacie never lied when she looked at Beca's pictures, so she knew they were good. Stacie continues going scrolling, nodding her approval.  
"Bec, these are great! It looks like someone's getting her groove back." Stacie pokes Beca, as she hands back the laptop.  
"Stop it!" Beca laughs, slapping away her hand.

Beca takes back her laptop, wondering if she should show Stacie the other picture she took. She realises that she was really excited about this picture, but absolutely terrified at the same time. There's nothing worse than loving your work so much to have it shot down.  
Beca takes a deep breath, "There is one other picture I took. I actually leaned over the railing to take it. Not that I realised I did at first."  
"Get out!" Stacie smirks, in mock disbelief, "The Beca Mitchell I know wouldn't do something so reckless."  
"You know how you're always telling me taking a risk could lead me to a picture of a lifetime?" Beca says ignoring her friend's comments.  
"Yes, I think I say it so often I probably mumble it in my sleep." Stacie sasses, earning her a punch in the arm.  
"Stacie! I'm serious…I think I got something like that." She mumbles the last part, suddenly self-conscious about the picture.  
"Really?" Stacie asks, surprised, she notices how nervous Beca is about this mysterious picture.  
"Yeah… I mean.. I don't know if it's good.. but I think it is." She stammers out.

Stacie becomes extremely intrigued, Beca had never had a problem showing Stacie her work. If she was this nervous, it had to be good.  
"Ok, well show me!" Stacie exclaims, excited.  
Beca takes a deep breath and turns the laptop. Stacie's eyes widen in surprise, it wasn't what she was expecting. It was way better.  
"Beca!" She says, in shocked whisper.  
"What do you think?" Beca asks, nervously tugging on the end of her own hair.  
"This is beautiful!" Stacie says in awe, "Who is she?"  
"I don't know, she climbed up there while I was taking photos. She was so free and happy, it was like part of her recklessness transferred on to me. I leaned out over the rail and took the picture." Beca says, blushing a little.

Her admission surprises Stacie even more than the picture. It was rare that Beca felt inspired by people, in fact she mostly avoided them.  
"So, she made you feel inspired?" Stacie asks, raising a quizzical eyebrow.  
Beca blushes harder, "I guess."  
"Beca! That's great!" Stacie playful shoves her in the arm, "You took inspiration from your surroundings! That's what your professors are always telling you to do!"  
Beca blinks at Stacie. She was right, it was one thing that her professors had always told her.  
"Wow, yeah I guess I did." Beca smiles, proudly, looking down at the beautiful picture.

The two friends fall silent, as they look at the picture together.  
"She's gorgeous." Stacie comments, thoughtfully.  
"Yeah, she is. I've never seen contentment on someone's face like that before." Beca agrees, "I wish I could be that free in my life."  
"I'm not sure Beca Mitchell could handle this much freedom." Stacie laughs, "You might not take shit from people Bec, but you sure as hell wouldn't put your life at risk."  
"No, you're right." Beca nods, chuckling.  
Beca can't help but smile, it was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. The feeling of success, and it wasn't success for a class or an assignment, it was success for herself. She couldn't remember the last time she just went out to take photos for the fun of it.  
"Thanks for making me go on this trip." Beca says, sighing.  
"What are best friends for?" Stacie throws her arm around Beca, "Which means you get to be a test subject for my next assignment."  
Beca groans heavily, "As long as it doesn't involve electricity this time."  
"I can't promise that."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, thanks for the great response. I don't think I'm going to have a regular upload date, just because I've started working again. However, I am on chapter nine, so there is lots heading your way. I just don't have an ending yet. (it's actually bugging me hahaha) Anyway, I hope you enjoy and yes, Chloe will enter the story soon.**

* * *

 **1 year later**

Beca paces her room, muttering and groaning to herself. It was her final assessment. This is what was going to help her find a job after school. If she doesn't pass this, than she's done. She glances at her laptop, the assessment page was still there, taunting her. She had never been this stressed in her life.  
"Beca, its 3am. What are you doing?" Stacie leans against the door frame, looking dishevelled and sleepy.  
"Sorry Stace, I'm just slightly panicking about my final assessment." Beca looks up at Stacie, her face plastered with terror.  
"Only slightly, hey?" Stacie smirks, walking into the room and curling up in Beca's bed.  
"Stacie, it's for Professor Dickens. He could either make or break my career as a photographer. And you and I both know, that he's a giant.."  
"Dick! Yes, I know." Stacie yawns, snuggling into a pillow.

Professor Dickens was Beca's most hated professor. He was always riding her on how she would never make it as a photographer and her work was only suitable for catalogue shoots. He was an absolute jerk, Beca hated him so much that she fantasied about running him over at least twice daily.  
"And he hates me!" Beca emphasises, dramatically.  
"I hate you a little bit right now too." Stacie mutters, receiving a pillow to the face.  
"Alright tiny, no need to get aggressive this early in the morning." Stacie smirks, at her angry little friend.  
"Stacie!" Beca stamps her foot.  
Stacie huffs, she probably should listen or she'll never be able to get back to sleep.  
"Ok, what's the assignment?" She sits up, attempting to listen.  
"Colour." Beca answers.  
"What? No what's the assignment?" Stacie frowns, wondering if Beca heard her right.  
"That's it, one word, colour." Beca looks like she might throw up.

Stacie watches her friend start to descend into madness as she starts pacing again. Beca starts muttering and biting her nails.  
' _God! This guy really is a dick!_ ' Stacie thinks, knowing full well this guy probably loved messing with his students.  
"That can't just be it." Stacie says, getting up to look at the computer.  
Stacie reads through the assessment briefing, and it was nothing but brief.  
"Assignment: 6 pictures. Assignment subject: Colour. Additional information: Good luck." Stacie reads, looking thoroughly bemused, "What the fuck!"  
"RIGHT! Evil jerkoff!" Beca shouts, throwing her hand in the air.  
Something about the assignment seemed off to Stacie.  
"Wait, isn't this the professor who always has oddly specific subjects for his assignments?" Stacie asks, trying to get her tired brain to function.  
"Yes! Do you see why I'm freaking out now?" Beca continues to shout, very visibly stressed.

Stacie lowers her head to the desk and closes her eyes. For 3 years, this guy has given the most ridiculously specific assignments possible. Causing a lot of Beca's classmates to either drop his class or drop out altogether. Beca stuck it out, no matter how bad it got. He was the best and Beca knew that. If she could survive him, she could survive anywhere. At least that's what he said to them their first day of class. He always made out he was tougher than anything in the real world.  
"That's it!" Stacie's head shoots up.  
"What?" Beca jumps at Stacie's sudden movements.  
"Bec, you're over thinking it. It's a real world assignment." Stacie says, turning the chair to look at Beca.  
"What do you mean?" Beca asks, wondering if the reason why her friend didn't make any sense was because she was sleepy.  
"It's a test! If you work for a travel company or a travel website or something, they're going to say get me pictures of, I don't know…" Stacie pauses to think of an example, "..New York City."

Beca frowns, thinking about what Stacie was saying.  
"Most of the time you're probably going to get a vague description of what they want and you as the photographer has to be the visionary." Stacie says, thinking she was on the right track.  
"Holy shit! Stace, I think that's it." Beca's mouth drops in wonder, "That fucking, self centred prick!"  
Stacie giggles as she gets up, "Are you going to be ok now?"  
"Yeah.. yeah, thanks Stacie! I fucking love you, you know that right?" Beca says, with sincerity.  
"I do! You love me so much, that you're going to make me breakfast when I wake up again in a few hours." She remarks as she walks herself back off to bed.  
Beca sniggers, "Yeah ok. Thank you, Stacie!" She gets loving grunt back.

Beca breaths out a small sigh of relief. So, now all she has to do now is figure out what her vision was going to be. How hard could that be? Beca clicks open a new browser tab, searching colour. Thinking that could give her some kind of inspiration. She yawns as she just looks a photos colour wheels and bursts of rainbow colours. Nothing about it these pictures were giving her anything but sore eyes. She wasn't surprised, she leans her head on her hand. She clicks open some photo files and starts to go through some of her old vacation pictures. She wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but than again, maybe she was. Honestly, she was to tired to even figure out what she was doing. Her eyes lids begin to droop as she scrolls, she covers her mouth stifling a yawn.

She was just about to call in a night when she stumbles upon her pictures from Niagara Falls and the picture of her reckless woman. It wasn't like she had forgotten about the photo, but she has been so busy lately that her brain had temporarily misplaced the information. An incredibly large smile appears on Beca's face as she brings up the picture. It never fails to make her happy. The woman in the photo was a complete mystery to Beca, yet she seems to always pull Beca out of whatever funk she was in. The woman looks so at ease and happy. Beca feels her body relaxing as she stares at her amazing picture. The majority of the photo was blue, the water, the sky, the plastic poncho. But what really stood out was her fiery red hair. It was what Beca loved the most about the picture, her hair almost sparkles in the light.

Beca sits there for a long time, just staring at the picture. She begins to feel like she did that day she took it. Somehow, the woman's recklessness was seeping through the picture and into Beca. Suddenly, she didn't feel tired at all, she felt jumpy and inspired. She didn't exactly know what she was looking for, but she knew what colour she was going to focus on.  
"Red!" Beca breathes in deeply, letting herself feel excited.  
Professor Dickens wasn't going to beat her, she had come this far and she wasn't prepared to fail. Beca changes out of her pyjamas and throws on a flannel and some jeans. She grabs her camera bag and starts to run out of her apartment. She stops short of the front door, running back into the kitchen. She grabs a prepackaged muffin out of the cupboard and sets it down on the counter. She grabs the phone message pad (yes they have one) and scribbles down a quick message.  
' _Hey Stace, Breakfast is served! Inspiration struck, I'll be back later. Call me if someone dies! Love you, Beca!'  
_ Placing the note lovingly against the muffin, Beca then grabs her stuff and runs out the door.

 _..._

Beca wanders through the empty streets of New York. For the city that never sleeps, it looked pretty sleepy at the moment. Beca always liked walking through the city at this time. It was so calm and somewhat quiet. Most people would be scared to walk the streets of New York at 3.30 in the morning, but Beca did it so often that it honestly never bothered her. She stops by a 24hour diner to grab a coffee.  
"Just the usual, Bev." Beca says, to the older lady behind the counter.  
"Hm, ok don't tell me.." The 60 year old woman looks at Beca suspiciously, "You either can't sleep or you're trying to do an assignment?"  
Beca laughs, this is usually where she ends up when she couldn't sleep or when she was having trouble with an assignment. Bev was always there to lend a supportive ear, and she made the best coffee around, well at least around her apartment.  
"I guess it's a little of both." Beca admits, pulling up a seat at the counter.

The older woman gives Beca a knowing smile, having seen in here so often over the last three years.  
"Let me guess, the assignment is for Professor Dick?" She asks, over her shoulder as she begins Beca's coffee.  
"Yeah, the pretentious prick! After years of giving us assignments that were so specific that it was almost impossible to find, our final one was just a one word subject. Colour." Beca slams her hand on the counter, "Someone will murder that man one day."  
Bev lets out a heavy chuckle, she's heard Beca complain about this man for years.  
"Well, at least it's the last one. It's all over after this." Bev says, pouring Beca's coffee into her take away cup.  
"Yeah, that's true. I wonder what it's like to live without a constant level of stress and fear of failure." Beca sighs, dreamily.  
Bev places the coffee in front of Beca, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, kiddo, but that never really goes away."  
"That's fantastic to know as I enter the rest of my life." Beca grumbles at the news.  
"Welcome to life, Honey." Bev leans on the counter, laughing.

Beca takes a sip of her coffee, wondering where she was going to start with her assignment. She honestly wasn't sure, but wandering aimlessly around New York at almost four in the morning probably wasn't her best option.  
"You said the subject was colour?" Bev asks, Beca nods, "Are you going to pick one colour or like a range of colours?"  
"Just one, I feel like it's a trick. He always makes us go overboard and I think this needs to be simple." Beca says, praying she was right.  
"Have you picked a colour?" Bev asks, interestedly.  
"Yeah, I picked Red." Beca answers, letting a lopsided smile appear on her face.  
"Why Red?" Bev smirks at Beca's face.  
Beca blushes hard, "No particular reason."

Bev continues to smirk at the serious of emotions running through Beca's face. She was too easy to wind up.  
"Well, I hope I can meet ' _no particular reason_ ' one day." She teases, causing Beca's face blush a deeper colour red.  
' _Me too._ ' Beca thinks to herself, feeling the burn in her cheeks.  
"Maybe you should take a picture of your face, its pretty red." Bev jokes, sniggering.  
"You know, Bev, for someone with more life experience, you can be really rude sometimes." Beca says, pretending to be really offended.  
"Well Beca, as someone with more life experience, I couldn't give a shit what you think." She retorts, sassily.  
Beca mouth drops a little, "I shall be going now, devil woman!"  
"Have a good morning, Beca." She sings, sweetly, as she watches Beca leave the diner.  
Beca shakes her head grinning, the older woman was so sassy, Beca could only hope she was at least half as sassy as her when she got to that age.

Beca walks back out onto the street, deciding maybe a little walk around might do some good. She sips her coffee, as she scans her surroundings, taking in everything she sees. It was still quite dark, so colours weren't exactly standing out. She continues down the street, letting her feet take control of her direction. She had lived here her whole life, she knew the city better than anyone. There was nothing better than her home city, at least that was Beca's opinion. This is where her love for photography started, everywhere you looked there was potential to take a picture that could capture people's minds and make them feel like they were here in the city. She used to sneak her father's camera out to take pictures of the trees outside her apartment. She loved how the colours changed and the different patterns and textures in the leaves. It wasn't until her father had the pictures devolved that he realised how much potential Beca had. He gave her her first camera. It was the last gift he gave her before he left.

In hindsight, that probably should have made Beca want to give it up and never pick up a camera again. But, instead she dove into it, hoping that if she took a picture good enough, her father might come back. He never did. While they still talk, Beca had never forgiven him for just up and leaving her.

Beca sips on her coffee, enjoying the rich taste as it warms her from the inside. She walks past an old alley way, she hears some noise. She turns and sees two cops hovering near the wall. They had their flashlights out and were lighting up the side of the building. Something about the wall catches Beca's eye. Beca takes a deep breath and approaches them, somewhat noisily, wanting to make her presence know, you know so she doesn't get shot. The cops turn.  
"You alright there, miss?" The first cop asks, he's tall, okay looking with a slight belly.  
"Yes sir, I was just wondering what you were looking at? I caught a flash of red." Beca says, trying not to sound guilty, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.  
"Oh this?" The second cop asks, pointing her flashlight back towards the wall.

She sounded much kinder than the first one, and was quite pretty. Beca looks up at the wall and gasps. Someone had graffitied the wall and wasn't just some dumb words, it was art. It was like a maze of thick red lines, intertwining and overlapping each other in perfect harmony. Each line was either outline in white or black making the red pop out even more. Everywhere you looked, there was a different shape or pattern or texture sprayed in. Despite the chaos of the maze lines, it seemed to work perfectly. Beca simply couldn't believe her eyes, that something this beautiful and amazing could exist at the back of an alleyway.  
' _That's New York for you._ ' Beca thinks, in wonder.  
"That's gorgeous." Beca says, admiring the wall.  
The first cop rolled his eyes, spying her camera bag on her back, her tripod hanging off the side of it.  
"You're an art student?" He huffs, gruffly.  
"No!" Beca says, affronted, "I'm a photography student."  
"Ugh! Same thing!" He rolls his eyes in disgust.

"Don't listen to him, he's just crabby coz we're on the night shift." The second cop, shakes her pretty head, "What are you doing out this early, miss?"  
"I'm trying to take pictures for my final assignment, and I think that this wall might be the first one." Beca says, looking back up at the wall in awe.  
"Listen tiny…" The male cop starts, "This is a crime scene."  
"Oh shut up, Harold." The female cop scolds, "Did you wanna take a picture, honey?"  
"Yeah, would that be ok?" Beca asks, getting a filthy look from Harold.  
"Sure, it really is lovely. It would be nice if someone documented it before it gets washed away. The owner of the building plans on having it removed first thing in the morning." She sighs, regretfully.

The female police officer convinces her partner, Harold, to help out. Beca asks them to hold up their flashlights pointing towards the wall, as she attaches her out flash to her camera. Beca takes a few test shots to get the angels and flash right, before taking the picture for real. Beca clicks the button, letting her flash light up the whole alley. Beca stands back smiling.  
"Thank you so much, ma'am. This picture is awesome." Beca says, happily.  
The female officer walks over to see the picture, "Paint the city red, if only everyone was opened to urban art." She remarks, causing Harold to glower at her.  
The police officers depart as Beca walks back out onto the streets having packed her camera stuff away. She felt a light buzz and it had nothing to do with her early morning caffeine hit. Thinking back to what the female cop just said to her.  
"Paint the city red." Beca repeats.  
Even though the saying is paint the town red, it could work in the situation. That would be her vision, to bring out the red in her beloved city.

...

She did it. Six pictures in four days, for her final assessment. It was challenging, but Beca couldn't remember ever having this much fun doing one of her assignments. She had full rein over what she was taking, she could let her inspiration flow as she ran through the city. It took her to many places around New York, meeting people she would have never normally have spoken too. Beca can't ever remember feeling this way, maybe this is the way her reckless woman in her picture feels. Beca had taken up looking at the picture almost daily, sometimes more. She had it developed and placed it above her desk. Not only was it there to inspire her, but it was there to remind her that she was better than what that old windbag ever told her.

She handed in her work yesterday, but was called back to meet with Professor Dickens after their final class today. Despite Beca being extraordinarily proud of her work, she couldn't help but be nervous. She sits at the front of the lecture hall, preparing herself for her work to be torn to pieces in front of her. Not literally, but his words always seemed like he did anyway.  
"Miss Mitchell." The old man grunts, as he steps out of his office.  
"Professor." Beca nods curtly.  
"Do you know why I called you here?" He asks Beca, with his perpetually pissed off look.  
"My final assessment?" Beca asks, suppressing her shaking, trying not to let her nerves get the better of her.  
"Out of the ten people who have attempted to finish my class, you were the only one who chose one colour for their assignment." He glares at her, the way he always did, "Why one?"  
"You said colour, not colours." Beca says, frowning.  
"Indeed I did." He goes and sits at his desk.

Beca starts to fume, he was such an arrogant prick. Never saying what he means, strutting around like he's the Michelangelo of the photography world. He made Beca's blood boil, nothing she did was ever good enough and quite frankly, she was sick of trying.  
"So, what was wrong with them?" Beca bites, he raises a questioning eyebrow at her tone.  
"I never said there was." He says, smugly.  
Beca takes a deep breath in, keep her internal rage at bay.  
"Why am I here then? Do you want one last chance to tell me I'm a failure?" Beca crosses her arms, glaring at her tormenter.  
He simply chuckles, "On the contrary, I want to tell you that it was your best work. It seems I did actually teach you something."  
Shock spreads over Beca like a rash, it was a backhanded compliment, but it was one nonetheless. In three years, he never once said anything nice about her work.  
"It seems you do your best work with little direction, not surprising, you are a simpleton after all." He remarks, insultingly.

"Someone is going to hit you one day, Dickens. You know that right?" Beca says, glaring at him.  
He smirks, she was his tiniest student with the biggest mouth. He couldn't wait to be rid of her, but he had to admit, he was impressed. In the three years that he taught her, he couldn't break her. She was tough as nails and was going to do well in her life.  
"Who says someone hasn't already?" He shrugs, "What I'm trying to say Miss Mitchell is, I was somewhat impressed by your work."  
"The consistent themes in the pictures were quite good. Even if your title was a cliché, it fit the pictures perfectly. Not only did they showcase the colour red, but it showed off the city as well. As much as it pains me to say this, your pictures reminded me of all the things I love about New York." He continues, having a frown permanently etch on his face.

Beca listens, not wanting to interrupt, he may be an absolute arsehole, but he's opinion, unfortunately, was invaluable.  
"From the street art, to the city's architecture, to the people and their cultures. It was all there, New York City painted red." He says, thinking of a different take on her title, "That would have been a better title, but I am amazing. Nevertheless, you pass, well done."  
Beca wasn't sure what to say, it was the nicest words he had ever spoken to her. Yet a part of her still wanted to pour scolding hot coffee over his head. It was a rather conflicting feeling.  
"Thank you Professor for those kindish words…How'd they taste coming out of your mouth?" Beca smirks.  
"Like rat poop flavoured chalk." He remarks, causing Beca to shake her head at the oddly specific taste, "Now, please get the hell out of my classroom. I hope we never see each other again."  
"Gladly." Beca turns on her heal, grabs her stuff and leaves the classroom. Not bothering to take a final look, she was glad to be rid of her tormentor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: Hey guys, sorry for taking so long to update. This is literally my only day off this week and I'm so exhausted. I've haven't had any time to write much either, just started chapter 10. Though I think I figured out the way I'm going to finish it..maybe. Stay tuned.**

* * *

 **10 months later**

"I can't believe we found such a nice apartment and this quick!" Stacie yells, running through their new 3 bedroom apartment.  
The apartment building they had been previously been living in was being torn down. Beca and Stacie felt sad about moving, but the building was so old and was falling apart. They managed to find a new one pretty quickly, the only problem was it may be a bit more than they could afford.  
"It's great Stacie, but we still need to eat. I don't have a proper job yet and you still have one year of college left." Beca stresses, dragging some heavy boxes through the door.  
"Beca! We're going to be fine!" Stacie laughs, running back to her and throwing her arms around Beca, "You worry too much!"  
"Excuse me, I worry the perfect amount." Beca grumbles, at her giant friend, "Besides, your mum and dad aren't going to help you forever, we need to make sure we can afford this place in a year when you graduate."

Stacie frowns, Beca was right. The only reason they could afford this place was because her mum and dad helped her out and jobs aren't guaranteed after graduation.  
"Ok, how about this, we'll advertise for another roommate. We have a spare room and we could use the extra money." Stacie offers, understanding Beca's concern.  
"I mean, I don't want anyone else living with us, but we'll have too." Beca sighs, knowing it was the only way they'll get by.  
"Great! Maybe we could get a hunky guy with huge muscles…" Stacie imagines, dreamily.  
"Stacie." Beca sighs, rolling her eyes.  
"…Ooooh or maybe a super hot masseuse from one of those health colleges. She could be really pretty, with a great set of.."  
"Stacie!" Beca scolds, at her vulgar daydream session, "Could you and your vagina go and daydream somewhere else please?"  
"I'm not saying I'm going to sleep with our future roommate, but why can't I have some eye candy." Stacie pouts, "I work really hard, it'll be nice to come home and see a pretty body floating around the kitchen. Oh! We should get someone from the culinary school!"

Beca huffs as she grabs the boxes and moves them down to her new room. Leaving Stacie to babble about placing ads online to find a new roommate. Beca places her stuff down in her room, she opens the first box and pulls out the picture of her reckless woman. She smiles down at the picture, it was always comforting to her as well as inspiring. It was like the woman in the pictures was her friend. Beca often caught herself talking to the picture when she was stressed or stuck for ideas. It's not like she thought the picture was talking back to her, that would be weird. It was just Beca talking to herself and she would usually just direct it to the picture so she didn't feel like she was alone.

Beca walks to the wall directly across from the window and hangs the picture. She stand back to admire it in its beautiful frame, the way the sun shone on it made it sparkle a little. Beca sighs happily, wondering if she would ever get to meet this mysterious woman. Beca didn't even know if she was American, they were in Canada when she took it. She could be from any country as far as Beca knew. But maybe it was best if she didn't know, it may spoil the magic she feels from the picture.  
"Well, it looks like you've settled into the room nicely." Stacie stands at the door.  
"I haven't even unpacked yet." Beca frowns, confused.  
"I wasn't talking to you." She smirks, pointing at the picture in the wall.  
"You're an idiot." Beca sniggers, shaking her head.  
"I think our resident redhead will give you some luck tomorrow at your interview." Stacie remarks, going up to the picture and straightening it.  
"I hope so, I really need this job. Can you imagine if I could land even an entry level job at travel your world?" Beca's says, sounding nervous.

"You already nailed the first interview, and you're going to do great with this one too, Bec!" Stacie says, encouragingly.  
Stacie could tell how nervous Beca was, but she knew she was going to get it. Beca had more talent in her pinky toe than anyone Beca went to school with.  
"Thanks Stacie! What would I do with out you?" Beca smiles, knowing she wouldn't get far without Stacie, though Stacie thought the same of her.  
"You would probably forget to eat." Stacie jokes.  
Beca laughs, "Yeah, that's true!"  
Stacie goes and lays on Beca's bed, "So I'm going to post an ad tonight for a new roommate. Do you have any preferences on what we should advertise for?"  
"Not a murderer." Beca responds, seriously.  
"That's a given, anything else?" Stacie asks, grinning at Beca.  
"I don't know, someone who's clean." Beca didn't know what she wanted in a roommate, "Someone who doesn't touch my shit."  
"Roommate must reframe from touching tiny hobbit's stuff, got it!" Stacie shots her a finger gun and wink.  
"Maybe I should just replace you." Beca deadpans, looking at Stacie.  
"You could try, but you'd never be able to get me out on your own. You're too small." Stacie gets up and ruffles her hair.  
"I'm going to suffocate you in your sleep." Beca glares, slapping away her hand.  
"Aww! You're so cute when you're murderous, I'm amazed you're still single." Stacie sasses, causing Beca to punch her in the arm before the two friends burst out laughing.

…

Beca rushes through the business district, heading towards her interview. She breaths deeply, steadying her nervous.  
"I swear, I'm always nervous lately." Beca mutters, to herself.  
The company she was interviewing for was one of the best travel website around. It was the top website for tourist's to go to when they were looking for more of an authentic trip, rather than a typical tourist trip. It was Beca chance to go to places that people wouldn't normally and show the world there were more to place than what you see on TV.

 ***ring ring***

"Hey Stace." Beca answers her phone.  
" _Are you almost there?_ " She asks, sounding like she was eating something.  
"Yeah, I'm almost at the building. I'm super nervous." Beca stresses, "I've made it this far, I really want to get the job!"  
" _You're gonna be fine. Just hit them with some Mitchell charm and you'll win them over._ " Stacie jokes.  
"You know full well I have zero Mitchell charm!" Beca grumbles, rolling her eyes, hearing Stacie laughing through the phone, "Why would you suggest that?"  
" _God, Bec! You're so easy to wind up. You're going to be fine."_ Stacie continues to laugh.

Beca huffs into the phone, she should be used to Stacie's antics by now. It was just that this interview was such a big deal and she didn't want to screw it up.  
"Do you have class today?" She asks, trying to get her mind off her interview.  
" _Just a online lecture, but I wanted to call you because we already had a call for the spare room._ " Stacie says, excitedly.  
"Already? You posted it last night at midnight. Are you sure they're not a murderer?" Beca asks, worried.  
" _Well, I'm meeting with them at 11, so if you come home to blood everywhere, you can assume that they were._ " Stacie says, taking another mouthful of whatever she was eating.  
"I'm sorry, but it is too early in the morning for this level of sass and sarcasm. I'm gonna need you to tone it down please." Beca snaps, playfully.  
Stacie laughs again " _I'm sure she'll be fine, she's a couple years older than us. And she's a remedial therapist._ " Stacie explains.  
"What is that?"  
" _It's a masseuse, but for actual injuries. So, she would actually be helping your body recover from an injury. At least I think that's what it is."_ Stacie says, not sounding all that sure.

"Well, I guess that wouldn't be so bad. As long as she isn't real touchy-feely." Beca shrugs, stopping suddenly.  
Beca looks up at the tall grey building, it looks much like all the others. But this was the address she was looking for. She takes a deep breath.  
"Well, I'm here." She sounds like she may throw up.  
" _Bec, listen, you're amazing. And yeah, right now you're a little fish in a massive ocean, but I know you have the talent to survive anything. You're going to get this job, you're going to be the best damn landscape..nature…travel..Damn! What type of photographer are you trying to be again?_ " Stacie loses her train of thought.  
"Great pep talk, Stace! Don't let the applicant kill you." Beca says, before saying her goodbyes.

...

Beca taps her foot nervously, she felt more anxious than she did at the last interview. She can't wait for the day when she felt different feelings. She wipes her clammy hands on her pants, as she looks around. She was in a large conference room. It had a large wooden conference table and about 12 chairs. The room itself had a floor to ceiling window on one side, it was just a giant glass wall, giving an amazing view of New York. The door opens, a man in his early 30's walks in.  
"Good morning, you must be Beca." He shakes her hand, "My name is Dean Walker."  
"Hello, thank you for meeting with me." Beca says, shakily.

He sits down across from her and sets down a folder. He opens it and pulls out what Beca can see to be her resume and application.  
"Ok, well Beca Mitchell, I have some good news and some bad news." He starts, "The bad news is, the position you applied for was filled yesterday."  
Beca's stomach drops, disappointment fills her body, she didn't even have a shot.  
"Oh.." She says, trying not to sound too disappointed.  
"Yes, I was quite furious yesterday. It was filled without my knowledge, even though they knew I was interviewing another candidate this morning." Dean says, sounding like he was still kind of mad about it.  
"So, how come you didn't cancel my interview?" Beca asks, wondering why she even came in.  
"Well, that's the good news, I wanted to interview you for a different position. One that hasn't even come available to anyone else yet." He smiles, his eyes seem to sparkle at the prospect of this new position.

"I… really?" Beca asks, extremely stunned, suddenly her stomach seemed to be back where it should be.  
"Yes, I would. So listen, they were very impressed with you at your first interview. Which is why you've come to me. I've gone over your portfolio and your applications. Your pictures are great, really great, but they could be even better if you had more time hone your skills." He starts to explains, "You have a great eye for details and knowing which part of you pictures should be your main focus."  
Beca listens silently, desperate to hear what this other position could be.  
"I also noticed you have taken several writing courses while attending New York Institute of Photography. Why was that?" He asks, the question taking her by surprise.  
"Oh, well… There was a time where I thought it was getting too much for me, I took some courses in writing to sort of put my mind somewhere else for a little while." She tries to explain without saying her professor was a giant dick that needed to be castrated.  
"Did it help?" He asks, interestedly.  
"Yeah, it did actually. I was able to refocus once I had a different creative outlet. Some of the assignments I was given at NYIP were so specific that I felt like I wasn't being creative anymore. It helped me get back on track." She answers, still wondering why he was asking.

Dean nods, looking back down at her resume.  
"Who's class did you take at NYIP?" He asks without looking up.  
"I took Professor Lock's class, Professor Andrew's and Professor.."  
"Dickens?" He interrupts, looking up at her with a little smirk.  
"Yeah." Beca answers, not knowing if this was going to lead somewhere bad.  
"I thought so, I took the liberty of giving him a call before our interview today. To get his opinion of you." He continues to smirk.  
' _Oh no! This can't be good! Why is he smirking? WHY IS HE SMIRKING?'_ Beca begins to panic.  
Dean sees the panic in Beca's face and decides not to delay, "He said, Beca Mitchell is one of the most difficult, egoistic simpletons I've ever had the misfortune to teach. And she has a big mouth. Good luck if you want to hire someone like her."  
Beca's mouth drops open, extremely offended.  
"Charming man, isn't he." He shakes his head, "Although, it was the best reference we've ever receive from him for any applicant he's ever taught."  
"Seriously?" Beca says, breathlessly, if that was the best one, what has he said about everyone else.

"Yeah and now I understand why you needed another creative outlet. That guy's an arsehole!" He says, passionately.  
Beca laughs, "How do you know Professor Dickens?"  
"I took his class too. Boy, I really wanted to run that arrogant piece of shit over with a bus!" Dean steams at the mere memory of Professor Dickens.  
"I think you and I would get along very well, Dean." Beca says, seriously causing the man to start laughing.  
"Honestly Beca, I'm not even sure we would have enough time in a month to go through all the bullshit he put me through and then get to all the shit he put you through." Dean shakes his head, laughing, "He did say you were the only one who passed his class last year, do you have the pictures from that final assignment?"

Beca dives into her bag and pulls out folder carrying some more of her work. She flicks through until she comes upon her pictures from her 'Paint the city red' assignment.  
"The subject was colour. I was inspired by the colour red, so I went with that." Beca explains, handing the pictures to him.  
He studies the pictures for about ten minutes, making Beca sweat more than she ever had in her life. He looks up suddenly, stopping on one that she took in the flower markets.  
"Tell me about this picture." He asks, pointing to it.  
Beca smiles, the picture was of an older Asian woman, she's laughing and standing behind a stand of red gerbera's.  
"That is Mrs Chang, she has worked at that flower stall for 30 years. She told me that gerbera's were her favourite because there were so many colours. They reminded her of the rainbow she saw on the day she came to America." Beca says, remembering that day fondly.  
Dean looks impressed, "Why is she laughing?"  
Beca blushes and laughs uncomfortably, "I asked her why would someone give red gerbera's and she told me they meant to be fully immersed in love. So, she said I should give them to someone I was stalking. She thought she was funny."

Dean starts laughing, "Are you stalking someone, Beca?"  
"No! I'm not that weird." She laughs, scratching her head.  
"I'm sure you're not. But that is a great story, and that's what I'm looking for. Which brings me to the job offer." Dean says, with a smile.  
Beca's ears prick up at the words job offer.  
"It says here that you've lived in New York City your whole life, so you would say you know the city pretty well, yes?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, I'd say so." Beca nods, wanting to know where he was going.  
"Well, seeing as our great website is based in New York City, the company has decided to launch an active blog. But it just can't be done by anyone, we want it done be a real New Yorker. Someone who knows the in's and out's of the city. Knows where all the good places are and where to see amazing things and not just the Seinfeld and sex and the city versions." Dean explains, "Your work is great, but I think given the chance to spread your creative wings, you would be able to add even more life and soul into them. So, I want to offer you the position to be our New York blogger."

It wasn't what she was expecting, but it could lead her somewhere great. Beca blinks rapidly, trying to process the information.  
"You'll have full access of what you can take pictures of and what sights you pick. We'll just give a base subject every week. Like restaurants, bars or markets. Stuff like that." He finishes, "It would be a year contract and then we would review you and see if you want to continue it or move on somewhere else. So, what do you say? Interested?"  
Beca was beyond interested, but something bugged her.  
"I.. Why me?" She frowns, struggling to understand why they would pick her with little experience to run something new in the company.  
Dean smiles, "Because you remind me of me when I was your age. I knew it the moment I got off the phone to Dickens. You were tough and wanted to succeed. Why else would you tell Dickens that someone's going to hit him one day?" He laughs.  
"Oh god! He told you that?" Beca asks, embarrassed, "He hinted that someone already had."  
"Yeah, who do you think that was?" Dean smirks, "But let's save that story for another day." As he watches Beca's eyes widen in delight.  
"Someone took a chance on me after Dickens gave me the worst reference anyone could get, and look where I am now. And I have a feeling you're going to do amazing things, and I want to help you get there. So, what do you say?" He holds out his hand.

…

Stacie dances around the new apartment unpacking boxes, making it feel like home. She couldn't wait for Beca to get home, she always had a great eye for detail. If she fails as a photographer, she could be a decorator. Stacie always told her that, which usually resulted in a fabulous cushion to the face. Whenever they visited the markets, Beca could always find a great piece to put in their apartment. Little splashes of colour and sparkle, it really livened up the place. So, Stacie decides to leave all of that stuff for Beca and she would unpack all the kitchen stuff, at least they could start cooking tonight. There was only so much Chinese take away one could eat. Stacie was the cook in their duo, Beca couldn't cook to save herself. If is wasn't for Stacie, she was sure Beca would have died years ago from starvation.

Stacie looks at her phone, 10.45am. Fifteen minutes till the applicant gets here. Stacie was excited, this person was the only one that didn't seem like a creep or someone who was going to rob them. Stacie wonders what she'll be like and if she'll fit in with her and Beca. Stacie was a little sad that it wouldn't be just her and Beca anymore, though this would be a good way to meet new people. With her studying so much, it was getting harder and harder to get out and meet people these days. And her science friends, while extremely nice and perfectly lovely, were a just not Stacie's cup of tea when it came to dating. Maybe this new chick could lead her to her next fling or her next relationship. Stacie sniggers at the thought, she hadn't had a relationship in ages. They always ended up smashing her heart to pieces, so she just doesn't do them anymore.  
"Oh god! We really need food!" Stacie grimaces at their empty fridge.  
She gets down to her last box, pulling out their plates and starts packing them away. Vowing that she would buy this apartment one day when she's a big time scientist because she never wanted to move again.

 ***knock knock***

"Ooh, that'll be her." Stacie's gasps, excitedly, "Coming!"  
Stacie runs and checks herself in the mirror, quickly washing her sweaty face. She rushes back to the door. She takes a deep breath and plasters on her biggest and best smile. She opens the door to find a woman on the other side. Stacie gasps loudly, causing the woman to frown and step back in surprise. Stacie couldn't help it, whoever Stacie was expecting it certainly wasn't this woman. Because Stacie had seen this woman before, her fair skin and her fiery red hair were all too familiar.

' _Beca is going to friggen die!_ '


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, Surprise! Didn't think I'd updated twice in one week. I've been taking my Ipad to work so I've been writing in my breaks, however I'm still no closer to writing an ending, so this could be a really long story. haha so tell me if it starts to get boring. I love reading all of your great comments, it honestly makes my day. Enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

The apartment door bursts open. A very excited Beca runs inside, needing to find her best friend right away.  
"Stacie!" Beca yells, slamming the door.  
Running footsteps start coming down the hall.  
"What is it? What's wrong?" Stacie puffs, alarmed at the yelling and slamming.  
"You are never going to guess what happened!" Beca says, delightedly.  
"David Guetta is throwing a free rave in Central Park?" Stacie's guesses, earnestly.  
"No.." Beca shakes her head, frowning at her friend because she didn't get the response she was after.  
"Dirty Ray on Forth flashed you again?" Stacie's guesses again.  
"Ew, no!" Beca screws her face up.  
"Your favourite printing paper is on sale?" Stacie guesses again, knowing if she kept guessing it was going to kill Beca.  
"Stacie!" Beca stamps her foot.  
"Ok ok, I'm all ears. What happened?" Stacie giggle, as she sits on the couch.

"I got a job!" Beca squeals, stamping her feet a little from excitement.  
"Wait, what? You were just going for a second interview. How the hell did that happen?" Stacie asks, confused.  
"Well that job got filled yesterday." Beca says hastily, causing Stacie to look even more confused, "But I met with this guy, Dean Walker and he went to NYIP as well. Took Dickens class and everything."  
"Ooo-kay." Stacie says, trying to follow, Beca was talking so fast.  
"Anyway, he loves my New York photos, says I have real potential or some shit." She waves her hand dismissively, "The Company is starting a blog, an active one and they wanted it run by a real New Yorker. And because I have both writing skills and photography skills, they want me to do it!"  
"Really? Just like that, no catch?" Stacie asks, confused at how easily Beca got the job.  
"No, I was just as surprised. Dean told me that he keeps eyes on people who come out of NYIP, and he said he really loved my work. He also said that doing this will give me the opportunity to get better and be ready for bigger assignments."

Stacie stares at her friend dumbfounded. She couldn't believe how quickly it happened.  
"Wow! Beca that's amazing! How long do you have to run the blog for?" Stacie asks, still in shock.  
"For a year and then I'll be reviewed. Which means I could be promoted to something bigger in a year if I do well!" Beca shouts, "And the best part is, it pays a little more than the original position so we don't have to find another roommate."  
Stacie's eyes widen, she awkwardly scratches her head, "Yeah about that.."  
"What did you do?" Beca folds her arms, knowing Stacie's guilty face.  
"Well, I met with that applicant this morning." Stacie says, giving her best innocent face.  
"Stacie." Beca gives her a stern look.  
"Do give me that look Beca! She was great, and even if you got a job to cover the rest of the money we need, wouldn't it be nice to have extra money. Maybe open a savings account or go out for brunch on Sundays." Stacie's rambles, defensively.

"You said she could have the room, didn't you?" Beca asks, with an exasperated sigh.  
"Yes! But hear me out..."Stacie jumps up trying to cover Beca's mouth before she starts shouting.  
Beca ducks around Stacie's hand, "No! Don't silence me! Stacie, you can't make decisions like this without me!" Beca shouts, putting her hands on her hips.  
"Beca! Please listen, you're not going to be mad I promise." Stacie shouts back, earnestly.  
"And why won't I be mad?" Beca scowls, glaring at Stacie.  
"Because we know her.. kind of." Stacie says, causing Beca to look at her confused.  
"What?" Beca furrows her brows, "What are you talking about?"

Stacie face suddenly breaks into the biggest, excited smile Beca has ever seen. Something about it gave Beca an uneasy feeling.  
"Why are you smiling like that? It's not that Swedish chick that we met in Florida, is it?" Beca grimaces, "There's only so many times I can pretend that pickled herring is nice."  
Stacie snorts, "Oh she was so cute though!"  
Beca groans, she loved Stacie more than anything, but she didn't always love her active vagina.  
"Beca, I promise you it's not her and yes, it is someone from our travels, but it won't be me that's super excited to see her." She says, cryptically.  
"Stace, I'm lost. Just put me out of my misery." Beca moans.  
Stacie giggles excitedly, as she takes Beca by the shoulders and marchers her down the hall.  
"Where are you taking me? Is she still her?" Beca says, digging her feet down.  
"No! Now shut up and walk." Stacie snaps, continuing to shove Beca.  
Stacie forces Beca into her room.  
"Oh it's my room, that was so climactic." Beca shouts, sarcastically, "So, who is this mystery new roommate if she's not hiding in my room?"  
Stacie keeps a strong hold on Beca's shoulders and directs her over the wall across from the window. Stacie sets her in front of Beca's most prized picture, the picture of her reckless woman.  
"I'd like to you to meet our new roommate, Chloe Beale." Stacie says, with a smirk.  
Beca's mouth drops, she had to be joking. Out of everyone in the entire world to answer their roommate ad, it was the woman she had been staring at for almost two years. Beca gulps, getting a strange feeling that this may not end well.

...

The feeling of excitement over her first proper job was now being overshadowed by the anxiety of meeting her new roommate. It's not like she was overly mad at Stacie for saying that she could have the room. Stacie was right, they really could use the extra money. They had only ever just gotten by, they lived in New York City and it's not cheap. This could really help them out. But Beca couldn't help but be super nervous, the feeling she had become all too familiar with over the past few years. It wasn't that she wasn't excited to finally meet this woman, but it was kind of like meeting your hero. Not that Beca thought of her as her hero, but she was always a source of inspiration. What if she meets her and she's nothing like she always imagined?

Beca groans, frustrated at her own internal monologue, as she lays in bed trying to sleep. Why does she always have to over think things? She's probably overreacting. But other little niggling thoughts start weigh in, what if she thought it was weird that Beca had a photo of her and that she had it up on her wall?  
"Oh god! She's going to think I'm some kind of weirdo!" Beca groans again, covering her face with a pillow.

Beca turns and flicks her lamp on, light floods her room. She gets out of bed, feeling the cold floorboards under her bare feet. Beca sighs, her brain was buzzing with all the things that could possibly go wrong. She goes and looks up at the picture of her reckless woman. For a moment her brain stops buzzing, her body calms and a small smile tugs at her lips. Beca wonders if the real woman would have this kind of affect on her. The thought causes butterflies to erupt in Beca's stomach, now she was nervous for a whole other reason.

For almost two years, she would look to this picture for inspiration and comfort. It proved to her that she was better than what her haters ever told her. It helped her overcome obstacles that she didn't think she could get over. It was silly to think that all of this could come from a simple photo, but to Beca this photo sparked something new inside her. For years, she didn't take chances in her photos because she held herself back, fearing she wasn't good enough. But the day she took her own risk, it proved to herself, that she could be better than all the people who tried to hold her back. Remembering the reason why she hung the picture in the first place and there was nothing weird about that. With that comforting thought, Beca feels herself grow tired. She climbs back into bed, switching off her lamp. Her thoughts drift to the next day when she would finally meet her reckless woman. A smile curls in the corners of her lips, she would have to stop referring to her as her reckless woman, because now she has a name.  
"Chloe." Beca murmurs, before shutting her eyes, sleeping finally taking her.

...

Stacie rushes around the apartment, pushing all the unpacked boxes to the side of the living room. They were almost there, Stacie's parents had most of there stuff moved in a few days before arriving. So all that was left was their small stuff, nick knacks and decorations, the stuff that made it feel like home. Beca quietly watches Stacie from the kitchen.  
"Why are you eating cereal?" Stacie shouts, "It's 10.30."  
"I'm hungry." Beca shrugs, staying abnormally quiet, even for Beca.  
Stacie frowns, this was a large turn around from the stress ball she dealt with yesterday. Beca was about to meet someone who she had been admiring, from afar, for such a long time and here she was eating cereal like a person who honestly couldn't care less.  
"Let me guess, you've adopted your artist persona." Stacie smirks, putting her hand on her hips, "Moody and distant? Classic Beca!"  
"Shut up." Beca grumbles, with a mouthful.  
"I bet you're melting down on the inside." Stacie sniggers at her friend.

Beca glares at her as she continues to eat, deciding to stay silent.

Stacie throws her head back laughing, she knew it. Beca was just trying to act cool for their new roommate.  
"Look at you trying to be cool!" She throws her arm around Beca, "Bec, you can't act like this forever. She's gonna find out you're just tiny anxious ball fluff."  
Beca throws Stacie off, "I'm not fluffy!"  
"Beca, you may look like you could kill people, but you and I both know you're really just a cinnamon roll." Stacie grins, happily at her tiny friend.  
"I am not!" Beca glares, threateningly at her friend.  
Stacie ruffles her hair, "Naww, you're so cute when you're murderous!"  
"Stop doing that!" Beca bats her friend away.

Beca fixes her hair, Stacie always did that to make her seem less scary when she was glaring. Stacie was the only person that could never be scared of Beca, because she knew better.  
"Why do you have to be so weird?" Beca growls, annoyed.  
"Yeah the chick who's got a photo of our new roommate hanging in her room, is calling me weird." Stacie teases, gleefully.  
"Oh my god! You didn't show her, did you?" Beca shouts, she would just die if Stacie had done that.  
"Yeah Beca, I showed this stranger that we have her picture hanging on our wall. Excuse if I don't want her to think we're stalkers." Stacie scoffs, rolling her eyes.  
Beca breathes out a sigh of relief.  
"Though I did nearly give it away when I gasped so loudly when I answered the door." Stacie admits, grinning sheepishly.  
Beca groans, subtlety wasn't Stacie's strong point.  
"I had to tell that I thought I saw a mouse." Stacie giggles, "But, you'll have to show her that picture eventually. She's going to hear you talking to it."  
"I don't talk it!" Beca blushes, knowing she talks it more often than she'd like to admit.  
"Sure you don't, and I'm not super attractive!" Stacie says, sassily, flipping her hair.  
Beca screws up her face at her friend's vanity. Stacie knew she was hot and made sure everyone knew it.

 ***knock knock***

Beca's eyes widen at the sound, Stacie grins happily at Beca's face.  
"Let's see you maintain your cool when I open that door." Stacie smirks, giving Beca a side glance.  
"Shut up!" Beca shoves her, before scurrying off to the kitchen sink.  
Stacie shakes her head, laughing at her friend. If she didn't know any better, Beca had a little crush on the idea of this woman. How could she not? She's been staring at her picture and drawing inspiration from it for almost two years, it would be hard not to have developed some kind of feelings for her. She couldn't wait for Beca to meet Chloe. If anything else, it'll just be pure entertainment for Stacie.

Stacie goes an opens up the door, "Chloe!"  
"Hey Stacie!"  
There it was, her voice. Little goosebumps appear on Beca's arms. Beca glares at her arms.  
' _Get a grip, Beca! It was just her fucking voice, you loser!_ ' Beca grumbles at herself.  
"Come in, girl!" Stacie says, happily.  
"Thanks, Stacie. I'm so happy to be here, I was getting worried. If hadn't found your ad when I did, I would have been living in my therapy room." She laughs, as she steps into the apartment.

Beca sees her for the first time, her breath gets caught in her throat. It was really her, the woman in her picture. Her red curly hair seems just as vibrant as it did that day she saw her on the boat. Her skin was a beautiful milky white and her smile was even bigger than Beca could have imagined.  
"Chloe, this is Beca. She my best friend, roommate and all round little cloud moodiness." Stacie teases, causing Beca to glare at her.  
Chloe giggles, causing more goosebumps on Beca.  
"It's wonderful to meet you, Beca." She smiles, light seemingly radiating from her face.  
"Hi." Is all Beca could squeak out.  
It wasn't Beca's fault, she noticed Chloe's eyes for the first time. They were such a startling shade of blue that they caught Beca off guard. She had never seen anything that beautiful. All of the air in her lungs seem to disappear as the woman's eyes seem to peer right into her soul. Stacie watches Beca's internal struggle, bringing a gleeful smirk to her lips. She knew something like this would happen.  
' _Wait till she finds out Chloe's a hugger._ ' She thinks, laughing inside her head.

"Beca, are you ok?" Chloe asks, genuinely thinking that she had done something wrong.  
"Yep, I'm fine." She breathes out, before leaving the kitchen and walking down to her room.  
Chloe watches the cute brunette walk away, wondering if she somehow offended her.  
"Did I do something wrong?" Chloe asks, sadly.  
Stacie sniggers at Beca, causing Chloe to be even more confused. Stacie called it right, this was going to be very entertaining.  
"No, you didn't. Beca's a conundrum wrapped up in a riddle." Stacie laughs, at her strange little friend.  
Chloe frowns trying to figure out what she means, "She's a riddle wrapped up in a riddle?"  
"Chloe, she's just a little odd. But god help me, I love the idiot." Stacie shakes her head, "Come on, I'll take you to your room."

...

Beca stayed in her room the whole day. She was way too embarrassed at her own behaviour. But she couldn't help it, her reckless woman was even more beautiful than the picture she has of her. She was more beautiful than she had ever imagined. This was going to be a problem, because now she's living in Beca's apartment. Now she had to encounter this vision of beauty everyday, Beca's not sure if her anxiety could handle it.  
"Is she ever going to come out?" Chloe asks, looking down the hall.  
"Not for a while." Stacie laughs, "She can go at least a full day without eating, so don't plan on having contact with her for at least a day."  
"But why? Did I do something wrong?" Chloe sits at the counter, letting her beautiful face fall.  
"Of course you didn't. It's just.." Stacie wonders whether she should tell Chloe or not, "It's probably best if you talk to her about it. I think she'd kill me if I told you."  
Chloe frowns, wondering what the hell Stacie was talking about.  
"Look it's just a really long story." Stacie gives her a sympathetic smile, "I promise, you'll get it out of her."  
Chloe sighs, very confused. How could she already have upset someone she just met?  
"Hey, I gotta get to school. I've got to check on some of my experiments. I should only be a couple of hours." Stacie says, grabbing her stuff, "And don't worry about Beca, she'll come out. I think she's a little embarrassed."

Stacie laughs to herself as she heads to the door, leaving poor Chloe in her wake. Chloe looks around the empty apartment that she'll now call home. She had already unpacked, and her bed will be delivered tomorrow, so she didn't really have a lot to do. She came to New York for a new job, and didn't bring a whole heap with her. She'll have to start shopping for some more furniture. Chloe walks down the hallway to get her laptop, she might as well start now. Sitting on the floor in her room she boots up her laptop, only to realise she didn't have the wifi password. She pokes her head out of the door and stares at the outside of Beca's door, contemplating whether she should ask her. Chloe had never been shy or usually bothered with personal space. But this cute brunette seemed a little skittish and Chloe really want her to like her.

' _Well, I still need to order some furniture. I'll just have to knock._ ' Chloe says, to herself, walking over to the door and knocking confidently.  
Chloe hears something drop and some frantic footsteps.  
"Beca?" Chloe calls, softly as to not scare her.  
Chloe is met with silence, she knocks again.  
"I don't bite, you know." Chloe says, cheerfully.  
Slowly, but surely, Chloe hears little footsteps coming to the door. She steps back a little as the door opens. Chloe really takes in the sight of the little brunette, she was even cuter than she realised.  
' _She's your roommate, Chloe. And she's probably not into girls. So, just chill!_ ' She internally, scolds herself.

"Hi there!" Chloe smiles, broadly.  
"Hi." Beca forces out, trying to remember how a normal person acts.  
"Could you help me connect to the wifi? I need to order some furniture for my room." Chloe asks, holding up her laptop, "Can I come in?"  
Beca's eyes widen in fear, if she comes in, she's sees the picture and if she sees the picture, she'll know Beca's a complete freak.  
"Um.. It's a mess in here." Beca says, hurriedly, "Let's go to the living room."  
Chloe smiles, she got more than one word out of her, ' _Well, that's a start._ ' She thinks.  
"Ok then." Chloe agrees and turns to walk to the living room.  
Beca breathes a sigh of relief, quickly shutting the door behind her and willing her body to follow the beautiful redhead down the hall. This was silly, she didn't even know this woman, why was she acting like a love struck teenager. Though, this wasn't nearly as bad as when she fell for that German exchange student. Beca internally groans at that thought.  
' _Pull yourself together, weirdo!'_ Beca huffs, at herself.

Chloe sits on the couch and looks at Beca expectingly. Beca makes her way over sitting at the furtherest end. Chloe tilts her head in interest at the strange brunette, she isn't sure what it is, but she sure has peaked her interest.  
"Um.. So, could you set me up for the wifi?" Chloe asks, though knowing she only needs the password, but wanting to try and spark a conversation with the small woman.  
"Oh.. oh yeah.." Beca blushes, and slowly scoots over towards Chloe, "So, you pull up your network settings..Yeah those ones and click on that network.."  
"Stacie's Laboratory?" Chloe asks, in confusion.  
"Yeah, it was either that or Stacie has a great butt." Beca says, Chloe raises a surprised eyebrow, "I told her no, I didn't want people hacking our wifi." Beca shakes her head at her best friend's embarrassing antics.  
Chloe laughs, these girls seem like they're going to be a lot of fun to live with.  
"And the password is mcsquared, yeah m and a c then squared, one word." Beca finishes, ignoring the goosebumps on her arm caused by Chloe's laugh.

"Ah! I'm on! Thank you Beca!" Chloe says, gratefully, gently touching Beca's leg before turning back to her laptop, pretending not to notice Beca's bright red face.  
"I'll be honest, I never would have picked Stacie to be a science major." Chloe says, looking at her laptop.  
"She's as smart as she is pretty. She always has been." Beca says, trying to calm her mind, happy to be talking about Stacie.  
"You've known each other a long time, then?" Chloe looks up.  
"About nine years." Beca says, still feeling a little uncomfortable next to Chloe.  
"Wow! That's a long time! How'd you guys become friends?" Chloe asks, trying to keep her talking so she would stay, "No offence, but you guys seem like an odd match."  
"Stacie kind of picked me to be honest." Beca laughs, scratching her head.

Chloe smiles, staring at Beca waiting for the story, so Beca reluctantly continues.  
"I wasn't exactly popular in school." Beca admits, "I was the weirdo that didn't talk much."  
"Shocker." Chloe grins, playfully.  
Beca blushes realising that's exactly what she did to Chloe.  
She clears her threat and continues, "I sort of kept to myself and I really didn't have any friends. One day, a bunch of the ballet dancers were making fun of me and how I looked. I had couple buttons in my ears and I didn't know how to apply eyeliner well."  
For some reason, now she had started the story she couldn't stop. She really want to tell Chloe, she finally felt a little in control, which was making her less jumpy.  
"They were really starting to lay into me, like the kind of insults that would set you up in therapy for life. I tried to runaway, but they caught me and threw me to the ground. Stacie was also a ballet dancer, and she saw her friends push me to the ground. She went up and punched the main chick in the face, breaking her nose." Beca remembers, smirking at the memory.

"Oh my god!" Chloe gasps in surprise.  
"One thing you don't do, is piss Stacie off. She might be pretty, but she'll rip you to shreds." Beca warns, "After that, she warned all of them that the weird kid was her friend and if anyone touched me they'd answer to her."  
"Aw that's sweet." Chloe smiles, at Beca.  
"No one dared cross Stacie, she was the most popular girl in school. She was a prized ballet dancer and a budding scientist. Smart, talented and pretty, the kind of person who I did not want to be friends with. And that was the problem, because after that, I didn't have a choice. If I wouldn't go and sit with her at lunch, she made all of her friends come and sit with me. And then she started showing up at my house for impromptu sleepovers." Beca groans, in disgust.  
Chloe laughs at Beca's facial expressions, "She sounds a little like me."  
Beca realises Chloe had gotten a little closer to her, causing her body to heat up a little. She continues talking about Stacie so she didn't have to think about the odd feelings she was having.

"Eventually, I stopped fighting it. Turns out she's a pretty great person to have around. When my dad left, she marched over to his office and gave him an earful." Beca says, smiling.  
"Wow!" Chloe's eyes widen in surprise, "She sounds like a hell of a friend."  
"She was fifteen when she did that, but she only told me like a year ago." Beca laughs, remembering Stacie only told her because her dad was coming over and Stacie hadn't seen him since that day, "She apparently told him off for leaving me, pushed all of his stuff off his desk and kicked over a few chairs. All because he made me cry when he left."  
"What a great friend." Chloe says, softly.  
"The best, still not sure what she saw in me though." Beca admits, resting her head in her hand.  
Chloe looks at the little woman, feeling affection for her already. She was so cute when she babbles about her friend and how she has a mild freak out when Chloe got too close. She was really going to be fun to have around, if Chloe could ever crack through her barriers.  
' _It's only the first day. I'm sure I'll get her to open up._ ' Chloe thinks, smiling.  
"Ok, Beca! What furniture should I buy?" Chloe asks, happily moving very close to Beca.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, thanks again for the great response and I'm sorry about the inconsistent updates. I've got a few days off so I'm going to work on getting a few chapters written. I hope you like the next chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

Chloe slumps onto the kitchen stool, and rest her head on her hand with a huff. Stacie looks up from the stove, where she was cooking dinner.  
"You okay?" Stacie asks, stirring the contents of her saucepan.  
"Is it weird that I've only had one conversation with Beca in three weeks?" Chloe stresses, frowning.  
Stacie laughs, setting down her spoon and turning the stove top down.  
"Not really, Beca's not really a talker at first. Takes a while to crack her open." Stacie leans on the counter in front of Chloe.  
"But she seems genuinely weirded out by me." Chloe pouts, sadly.  
Stacie couldn't help but feel bad for Chloe, she knew why Beca was being weird. She had been trying to get Beca to tell her for the past few weeks, but to no avail. Beca just threw herself into her new job and spent most of her time out of the apartment and when she was here, she was held up in her room typing away with her articles for her blog.  
"I'm just not used to being ignored." Chloe sighs, "Especially by someone who I wanna be friends with."  
"I hear you. I had to force friendship on the little weirdo." Stacie smirks.

Just then the door opens, and a tired looking Beca enters the apartment. She hangs up her stuff, before she sees two faces staring at her.  
"Oh, hey guys. How was your day?" Beca asks, though her voice sounds exhausted.  
"Great, I had a break through with a bunch of cells today." Stacie says, adhering to Beca's request to dumb it down for her since she didn't understand science terms.  
"Good job Stace." Beca yawns, opening up the fridge.  
"I massaged this woman today that had a knot the size of my fist in her back. Took me 35 minutes to get that sucker to loosen up." Chloe comments about her day.  
"I can't imagine that would be fun." Beca says, still looking in the fridge.

Stacie looks at Chloe, she had gotten a response, Stacie nods head towards Beca, urging Chloe to keep talking.  
"It was hard work, but it's great to see a client feel so much better afterwards." Chloe says, "Oh! You guys should let me massage you one day!"  
"Damn! I knew I let you have the room for a reason!" Stacie gasps, excitedly, "That sounds amazing!"  
"Done! What about you, Becs?" Chloe asks, turning to Beca.  
Beca freezes with her back still turned, Chloe had called her Becs. She given her a nickname. Beca temporarily forgets what she was asked.  
' _Oh Jesus Christ, Beca! Answer the question! Wait! What was the fucking question?_ ' She panics.  
"Beca!" Stacie yells, smirking because she could see the side of Beca's face and could see the panic on it.  
Beca jumps, turning around, "Oh sorry guys, I must have zoned out. What did you say?"  
"Nice recovery, weirdo." Stacie mutters, going over to the stove.  
"Would you like a massage? Your back must get tired from carrying all that equipment around." Chloe says, earnestly.

Beca's mind goes into overdrive, she's offering a massage and she gave her a nickname.  
' _Why are you so fucking weird, Beca? Stop freaking out and answer the fucking question!_ ' Beca scolds herself.  
"Oh, thanks for the offer, but I'm not one for massages." Beca says, trying to find an out before she made a bigger fool of herself.  
"Maybe you've just never had the right person massage you, I'm very good." Chloe winks, causing Beca to blush.  
Stacie watches from the stove, enjoying the show that was happening in front of her.  
"I..I'll think about it." Beca stammers, "Thanks."  
She quickly retreats down the hall to her room.

Chloe watches her leave, somewhat perplexed at their interaction.  
"That went well." Stacie laughs, shaking her head.  
"It could have gone better." Chloe lowers her head to the counter.  
"I think you scared her with the wink." Stacie takes the saucepan off the stove.  
Chloe sighs, she really wanted to become friends with Beca. There was such a weird vibe between and Chloe couldn't figure it out what it was. She had to get to the bottom of it. Stacie hands her a bowl of pasta, "Stop stressing Chloe. I'll talk to her."

Stacie grabs a bowl and walks down to Beca's room. She opens the door and finds Beca lying face down on her bed.  
"Well, aren't you a social butterfly tonight?" Stacie sets down the bowl on her desk.  
Beca grabs a pillow and throws it at Stacie without looking up.  
"Now, now, no need for violence." Stacie picks up the pillow, and places it down on the bed.  
"She's really trying, Beca." Stacie says, sighing at her friend.  
"I know!" Beca groans into her pillow.  
"So, what's the problem?"  
"She makes me feel…things." Beca mutters, embarrassed.

Stacie snorts, "Well, of course she does. You've been staring at the picture for two years. But that version of her is not real Bec, she's out in the kitchen."  
Beca turns her head to look at Stacie, she never let Beca wallow over stupid things. She always snapped her out of it.  
"I just don't want her to think I'm weird." Beca frowns.  
"Yeah well, it's too late for that, Beca." Stacie sniggers, "You're already a giant weirdo, but when she gets to know you, she'll love you the way I love you."  
Beca sits up, smiling at her friend, she could always make her feel better with some nice words.  
"Or maybe she'll love you a little more." She waggles her eyebrows suggestively, ruining the nice moment,  
"Get out!" Beca shouts, picking the pillow up again, attempting to chase Stacie out of the room.  
"Fine! But you're going to tell her tonight or I will." Stacie threatens Beca.  
"You wouldn't!" Beca gasps, quietly.

Stacie holds Beca's gaze, she was serious. Poor Chloe was trying everything to be friends with Beca and Beca was too busy being a weirdo to tell her why she wouldn't talk to her.  
"It's not that big of a deal, Beca. But you're now making it into one." Stacie puts her hands on her hips, "Tonight! Or I tell her tomorrow!"  
Stacie walks out of Beca's room, leaving Beca annoyed at her best friend. She spots the bowl of food on her desk. As annoyed as she was, she still appreciated the fact that Stacie made it for her. She puts her head just outside the door.  
"Thank you for the food." Beca saying, though still sounding a little annoyed.  
"You're welcome." Stacie snaps back, playfully, "I love you!"  
Beca sighs, she knew she was being irrational, and Stacie was just trying to help and stop the apartment from feeling super awkward.  
"I love you too." Beca grumbles, retreating back into her room.

Chloe watches Stacie come back into the kitchen.  
"Everything alright?" Trying to pretend that she hadn't heard most of the conversation.  
"Yeah" Stacie shakes her in exasperation, grabbing some food herself.  
Chloe continues to eat, what is it that Beca has to tell her? They don't even know each other. Chloe frowns, did she make the right choice moving in with these women?

…

It's been a few hours since dinner, Stacie had gone to bed and Beca still hadn't come out of her room. Chloe had overheard most of the conversation between the two women. Beca needed to tell her something or Stacie was going too. Either way she was going to find out why they were acting so strange. Chloe switches off the tv, she's never been one to sit around and wait. She was just going to ask Beca. She stands up and heads towards Beca's room. The door is a little ajar with a little music playing. Chloe frowns wondering if she should just barge in or knock. Chloe decides to knock, god knows what she's doing behind the door.  
"Beca?" Chloe calls as she knocks.  
The music gets turned down and reluctant footsteps walk towards the door. The door opens and Beca's face appears at the door.  
"Hey" Chloe beams, at the little woman.  
"Ah..hey." Beca replies, awkwardly.  
"I heard you have something to tell me." Chloe says, getting to the point.

Beca's furrows her brows, before sighing, she might as well get it over and done with. She pushes the door open and walks over to her desk. She had already taken the photo off the wall and placed it face down on the desk. Chloe takes the open door as an invitation to enter. She walks and see Beca's room for the first time. Her walls were covered in photos, Chloe gazes at them in awe. It was clear that Beca was very good at her job, the pictures were beautiful.  
"I see you travel a lot." Chloe comments, still looking at some of the photos.  
"Yeah, we used too." Beca replies, sounding nervous.  
Chloe sits on Beca's bed, "So, what's going on?" She asks, with a smile, getting the feeling Beca may be making a big deal out of nothing.  
"Um.. This is going to sound strange, but you've been to Niagara Falls, haven't you?" Beca asks.  
Chloe seems surprised by the question, "Yeah I have. Almost two years ago, why do you ask?"  
"Um.. it's just.. I saw you there." Beca says, awkwardly.

Chloe frowns, wondering where this conversation was going.  
"Stacie took me there because I was in a bit of a slump and was thinking of quitting photography and dropping out of school. She thought I might find some inspiration while we were there. She dragged me onto the Maid of the Mist and that's where I saw you." Beca explains, starting to feel like she was sounding like a stalker.  
Chloe's frown gets deeper, not giving Beca a good feeling.  
"Are you sure it was me? That seems like a hell of a coincidence." Chloe asks, thinking surely Beca had seen someone else.  
"Believe me, I know how strange this sounds." Beca says, feeling panic starting to rise, "I was taking pictures of the waterfall, when I saw you walk to the bow of the boat and climb up on the railing."  
Chloe's eyes widen in shock, that's exactly what she did. People got really upset at her for doing it. She was made to go sit inside the boat afterwards, because they didn't trust her to be safe on the boat.  
"I'm sorry, the reason I remember is because I took your photo." Beca blushes beet red.

Chloe looks a little stunned, that what this was about. She took her picture two years ago.  
"You did?" Chloe asks, starting to realise why Beca had been acting weird.  
"Yeah, I didn't even realise what I was doing, I leant over the railing to get the picture. You looked so…uninhibited, I couldn't help but take your picture." Beca forces herself to continue, despite her red face, "It's one of the best, if not the best, picture I've ever taken."  
Chloe seems surprised by that admission, it must be a hell of a photo given the amazing work that was already surrounding her. Chloe could see how embarrassed Beca seems.  
"The picture inspired me to continue photography and it always seems to pull me out whatever funk I'm in." Beca continues, staring at her feet, trying to get it all out so she never has to say it again, "And I've had it hanging on my wall for almost a year."

Beca covers her face, wishing the floor would just swallow her whole. Beca had become so accustom to staring at the picture when she was sad or frustrated. But now she couldn't look at it because she felt embarrassed because she now knew the woman from the picture. Now she feels like a stalker. Chloe looks at Beca, she can see the she feels mortified.  
"Can I see the picture?" Chloe asks, interested to see the photo.  
If Beca says it's her best photo it must be something else. Chloe's interest is beyond peaked at this point. Beca removes her hands and nods, turning around and grabbing the large frame on her desk. She hands it to Chloe. Chloe breathes in sharply, that sure was her. But she never seen herself look like this. Her hair blowing in the wind, surrounded by sparkly water spray. But what really struck Chloe was the expression on her face, she looks so free and happy. Tears begin to spring to her eyes, knowing Beca would have no idea what this picture meant to her. She places it down and walks over to Beca, who looks like she was about to throw up. She grabs Beca by the shoulders and pulls her into a giant hug.

The hug catches Beca off guard, she stands there awkwardly not knowing what to do with her arms. Other than Stacie, Beca's human contact is pretty much zero. She lifts her arm up and awkwardly pats Chloe on the back.  
"The picture is amazing, Becs!" Chloe says, muffled in her shoulder.  
Relief floods her body, she liked the picture, she's not a crazy stalker after all.  
"So, you don't think I'm weird?" Beca asks, moving Chloe's hair out of her face.  
Chloe laughs, pulling back to reveal teary eyes.  
"Of course I think you're weird, but weird people are the best people." Chloe wipes away a tear in her eye, "Besides, I still love that you took the picture."  
"You seem upset though." Beca looks at her watery eyes.  
"No, I'm not." Chloe assures her, "I guess it's my story time now."

Chloe sits back down on Beca's bed and picks up the picture. Smiling down at it, seeing her happy expression. She remembers that day like it was yesterday, it was the first day she felt truly free.  
"Two days before this, I got out of an abusive relationship. I was with this guy named Tom for a few years in college and he was great at first. Sweet and charming, then after a year he started changing." Chloe says, sadly, "Eventually, he was controlling everything I did. I felt like I was drowning and couldn't get out."  
Beca frowns as she listens carefully.  
"It came to head when my best friend Aubrey surprised me with a last minute trip to New York." Chloe continues, "He got super angry and started shouting that I was cheating on him and Aubrey was covering for me."  
"Damn!" Beca mumbles, shocked.  
"For the first time in ages, something in me woke up. I was angry, I started shouting. I couldn't believe he would accuse me of cheating. I would never do that." Chloe shakes her head, still not able to believe it happened, "But then his anger got worse. He lost control and shoved me into a wall."

Beca gasps in horror, "He what?"  
"Thankfully, the wall was a super thin fibro. I went straight through it and into the next dorm. The guys in there ran through and pulled him away from me." Chloe sighs, bringing legs up and wrapping her arms around them, "I had AVO placed on him and I've never seen him since."  
Beca watches Chloe's sad face, she honestly felt awful for the poor woman. How could anyone treat someone as wonderful as her like that?  
"Aubrey picked me up and whisked me away on the trip anyway, telling me I needed it more than ever. And of course, she was right. I felt more alive than I had in years, which is why I climbed up on the railing. I needed to feel the rush of the water and the breeze in my hair again." Chloe's shuts her eyes remembering that feeling, "Who knew I could have inspired anyone back then?" She opens her eyes and looks at Beca giving her half a smile.

Beca frowns, behind those brilliant blue eyes, she could see someone who was still a little broken. Beca knew what it was like to be broken, to have everything you loved taken and destroyed. Given these were two very different situations, but Beca could sympathise. She had pushed this woman away for the past month over a silly picture. It was time for Beca to start over.  
"Listen, I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I'm not really good with new people, unless it's with work. And that's usually because I never see them again." Beca starts, "When Stacie told me the woman in my picture was going to be our roommate, I kind of freaked out."  
"Why?" Chloe asks, interestedly.  
"I don't know… This is going to sound silly, but it's like I had developed some weird connection with the picture." Beca groans at how silly her own words sounded, "I didn't want to meet you because what if you were different from what I was imagining. Would my inspiration go away?"

Chloe realises just how big of an impact she had already had on this woman's life, just by simply doing something a little reckless. The picture of her helped her to continue school and start her career. She could understand why she didn't want to meet her.  
"So, was I everything you imagined?" Chloe finds herself asking, really hoping she didn't disappoint her.  
That was a hard question for Beca to answer, she had made sure that they had little contact in the past few weeks. But she really wanted to change that.  
"I'm not sure yet, I guess I don't know you very well." Beca says, going and sitting beside Chloe, "How about we start over? Hi, I'm Beca Mitchell, photographer, New Yorker and all around cloud of moodiness."  
Chloe smirks, "Stacie wasn't joking about that one?"  
Beca shakes her head, "Nope! You'll get used to it."

Chloe knew she was going to make it her mission to make sure this girl was smiling all the time. Chloe laughs, "Hi Beca Mitchell, I'm Chloe Beale, Remedial Therapist, redhead and I'm probably too perky for my own good."  
Beca snorts, "It's nice to meet you." She holds out her hand to shake Chloe's, but Chloe grabs it and pulls Beca into another hug.  
"Ooft!" Beca's taken by surprise once again as Chloe wraps her arms around the little woman.  
"I'm also a hugger." Chloe sighs, happily.  
"I've noticed." Beca's voice muffled by Chloe's hair, she attempts to move it from her face.  
After the proper amount of time for an appropriate hug had passed, Beca couldn't feel Chloe's arms loosening anytime soon. Chloe's seemed perfectly content holding Beca in her arms.  
"Um, Chloe are you done?" Beca asks, having let go four times already.  
"Not yet, I'm just gonna hug you a little while longer." Chloe sighs, happily.  
"I guess that makes you the weirdo now." Beca smirks, as Chloe starts laughing and giving Beca a playful whack. Her laughter is such a wonderful sound, Beca knows she always wanted to hear it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's notes: Hey guys, I hope everyone had a good Easter. The three days off I had proved to be efficient, I'm halfway through chapter 13, but I'm no closer to the ending, so I hope you guys are in for a very long story. This next chapter is one of my favourties and I** **really hope you love as much as I do. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **2 months later**

Stacie opens the door to the apartment, she was exhausted. She had been in the lab for over 12 hours. She didn't know what time it was or even what day it was. All she knew is she wanted to sleep for a month. As she enters the apartment, she's hit with the smell of food. She looks towards the kitchen and sees Beca hovering around the oven. Stacie stops, bracing herself.  
"What are you doing? Why are you cooking?" She panics, "And why is nothing on fire?"  
Beca looks up and sees her startled roommate.  
"What? I felt like brownies." Beca frowns, wondering what the big deal was.  
"Ok, the last time you cooked we almost had to get a new stove." Stacie remarks, keeping her hand on the door handle, readying herself to run.  
"Jeez, calm down! I'm not that bad of a cook." Beca says, indignantly.  
"Yeah right, then why do we have three fire extinguishers?" Stacie says, slowly walking towards the kitchen.

The oven beeps, causing Stacie to jump, getting ready to prevent an emergency. Beca frowns at her strange friend as she opens the oven door to remove her perfectly cooked brownies.  
"How'd you do that?" Stacie points at the brownies.  
"Almost ten year's friendship and still zero faith in me." Beca shakes her head, offended.  
Chloe wanders into the kitchen, "Hey Stacie! Oh those smell amazing, Beca."  
"Oh thanks." Beca blushes, smiling in spite of herself.  
Stacie squints suspiciously at her best friend. She and Chloe had been getting along better the past couple of months, but there was still a weird vibe between them. It wasn't an awkward one this time, it was now more flirtatious.

"So, what's with the sudden craving for brownies? Why didn't you go to the bakery across the street?" Stacie asks, getting the feeling Beca didn't make them for herself.  
"I felt like baking Stacie, sue me." Beca says, unconvincingly, knowing her friend could see right through her.  
Chloe looks between the two friends, unsure of what was happening. She decides to not get involved, but she really did want a brownie.  
"Call me when they've cooled down a bit. Oh and Stace, there's dinner in the fridge for you, I figured you'd be too tired to cook." She smiles, broadly.  
"Thanks Chloe." Stacie says, as Chloe walks back down the hall.

Stacie looks over and see Beca with a lopsided smile on her face. Stacie rolls her eyes, shaking her head.  
"Jesus Christ, Beca! I can see your boner!" Stacie smirks, as she walks to the fridge.  
"Shut up!" Beca glares at her, snapping out daze.  
Stacie grabs the plate of food out of the fridge and places it's in the microwave. Listening to Beca clean up the kitchen and the sink. Stacie had been watching them for the past few months, the more they talked the closer they seemed to be getting. Stacie wasn't jealous by any means, but she could see Beca falling hard. But Beca being the stubborn, hard headed woman she's always been, wouldn't admit it.

"Could you's two just make out already?" Stacie yawns, looking at her best friend.  
"Oh my god! Stacie!" Beca snaps, for the 100th time, "There's nothing going on between us. She doesn't like me that way."  
"But you like her that way?" Stacie smirks, as she takes her meal out of the microwave.  
Beca drops the utensils she was washing back into the sink, startled by Stacie's words.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Beca mutters, picking the utensils back up, pretending nothing weird just happened.  
"Sure you don't." Stacie rolls her eyes.  
As entertaining as it was for Stacie to watch her two friends dance around each other, it was getting ridiculous. It was clear they both liked each other, but weren't doing anything about it. But then again, Stacie wasn't one to sit around and wait, she picked her person and got on with it.

"Whatever Tiny! Just someone like Chloe isn't going to stay single forever." Stacie grabs a clean fork, "If you wanna be with her then be with her."  
"Says you, the woman who can attract anyone and get them hooked on her like they are on drugs." Beca mutters, as she dries off the dishes.  
"Are you saying my vagina is like crack?" Stacie asks, tilting her head in interest.  
"Yes, Stacie, you have a crack vagina!" Beca says, turning to look at her.  
Stacie stares at her friend for a moment, processing that information.  
"I'm going to add that to my tinder profile." Stacie says, impressed, before walking off to her room to eat and sleep the rest of the night away.

Beca huffs as her friend walks away. She was right though, a woman like Chloe wouldn't stay single forever. Beca had discovered how much of an amazing person she is. She's a great singer, Beca discovered that early one morning, she was singing in the shower. With the bathroom right next it Beca's room, everyday she gets her own private concert of Chloe's singing. Not to mention how kind she is, she goes to a homeless shelter every two weeks and gives massages for free. Helping those who can't afford it. Not to mention she sends Beca a text everyday to remind her to eat something and she hides granola bars in her and Stacie's bags in case they forget to bring food. Even if Beca still had a hard to time acting like normal person when she was with her, she knew she always wanted to know her.

"Can I have a brownie yet?" Chloe asks, making Beca jump and shout in surprise, causing dish water to go everywhere.  
"Oh my god! Don't do that!" Beca shouts, now covered in water.  
Chloe starts laughing, "Oh Becs! I'm so sorry! I thought you would have heard me come down the hall."  
Chloe grabs a tea towel and starts to dry Beca off, causing goosebumps to appear in the places she's touched. Beca shivers, being this close to her is almost unbearable. Chloe can see the mini freak out starting to happen, she had never had this kind of effect on someone before. She wonders what would happen if she actually made a move on Beca.  
' _She'd probably have a heart attack._ ' Chloe jokes to herself.  
"Are you ok? I didn't mean to scare you." Chloe laughs, sympathetically.  
"I'm ok, I just didn't see you there." Beca quickly backs away, giving her body a chance to breathe.

"Sorry, you must have been off somewhere else, I made plenty of noise coming down the hall." Chloe says, going and sitting at the counter, "What were you thinking about?"  
Beca blushes, "Nothing." She says, a little too quick, making Chloe smile.  
"Well, I hope nothing was giving you good thoughts." She says, giving Beca her most innocent look.  
Beca can feel her insides turning to mush as she looks at Chloe, she hadn't felt this strongly about anyone in a very long time.  
' _She's your roommate Beca, isn't there some kind of bad juju that comes with sleeping with your roommate?'_ Beca thinks, then desperately tries to erase the image of her and Chloe sleeping together.  
"I'm going to check if the brownie is cool enough to cut." Beca blushes at her own thoughts and tries to anything to think about something else.

Chloe sighs, she knows she shouldn't have a crush on her roommate but she couldn't help it. Beca was so awkward and cute. When she shows Chloe her photos she gets so passionate when she talks and the way Beca gets inspired by even the littlest things, Chloe loves it.  
"So, have you given anymore thought on letting me give you a massage?" Chloe asks, leaning her head on her hand.  
Chloe sees Beca fumble slightly with the knife as she cuts the brownie, making Chloe smirk.  
"Ahhh.. I don't know, Chloe." Beca mutters, as she finishes cutting the brownie, "I'm just not one for massages." She repeats, thinking she couldn't survive a massage from the beautiful redhead.

Chloe sighs, knowing she'll have to keep trying if she was going to get Beca in her grasp. She gets up and walks over to Beca. She feels Beca stiffen up as she puts one hand on her shoulder and reaches around her to grab a brownie.  
"That's ok Beca, I'll get you under me one day." Chloe says, huskily, sending a chill down Beca's spine.  
Chloe saunters out of the kitchen leaving a very confused and very turned on Beca in her wake.  
"What does that mean?" Beca calls after her, slightly scared and very turned on, "Chloe? What does that mean?"  
Chloe giggles to herself, "Goodnight Beca."

…

For the first night in weeks, the three girls were all home together. The three of them sat around the living room watching a movie. On the first couch, Stacie was completely engrossed in the film, while Chloe was half watching the movie and half watching Beca. On the other couch Beca was completely zoned out scrolling through her phone. The three of them had ordered pizza and opened a bottle of wine. Despite the fact they weren't talking, that were perfectly comfortable in each other's company.

Beca absentmindedly scrolls through her phone, not really taking in what she was scrolling past. She hears a massive bang on the TV which makes her look up.  
' _A car exploded, how original!'_ She rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to her phone.  
She notices she has a new notification. She opens it up and sees she has a new friend request. She sees the name and her stomach turns over. She lets out a shout and she throws her phone to the end of the couch. Both Chloe and Stacie look over.  
"What's wrong?" Stacie asks, concerned.  
"Are you ok?" Chloe asks, as well.  
Beca looks at Stacie extremely shocked, and shakes her head.  
"Beca, how many times do I have to tell you? Our telepathy doesn't work anymore." Stacie says, sarcastically.  
Chloe gets up and grabs Beca's phone and sees the new friend request.  
"She has a new friend request, someone from Germany, a Luisa Jäger." Chloe reads, noting how pretty she was.

Stacie bursts out laughing, while Beca just pulls her legs up to her chest hoping it was a bad dream.  
"This isn't funny, Stacie!" Beca shouts, at her inconsiderate friend.  
Stacie was nearly crying with laughter, "You're right, it isn't funny, it's fucking hilarious! Talk about a blast from the past. Oh my god!"  
Beca throws a cushion at Stacie, however it does deter Stacie's laughter. Chloe stands between the two friends wondering what on earth was going on.  
"Who's Luisa Jäger?" Chloe asks, looking up from the phone.  
The question just makes Stacie laugh even harder.  
"A blonde nightmare." Beca mutters, staring at nothing.  
"More like a blonde fantasy!" Stacie comments, making Chloe a little worried.  
Chloe can't help but wonder what Stacie meant by that comment.

After a moment, Stacie begins to calm down. She has tear tracks down her face, as she finally catches her breath.  
"Oh my lord! I haven't laughed that hard in so long!" Stacie says, fanning her face.  
"I'm so glad you think it's funny." Beca glares, menacingly.  
"So, who is she?" Chloe asks, once again.  
"She was an exchange student at our high school." Stacie says, still with a huge smile on her face, "Her and Beca had.. an odd relationship."  
"How so?" Chloe asks, interestedly.  
Beca groans lowering her face to her knees, knowing this conversation wasn't going to fun for her.  
"Well, let me put it this way, Luisa was Beca's sexual awakening." Stacie beams with glee.  
Chloe raises her eyebrows in surprise, "Really?"  
"I am not drunk enough for this conversation." Beca unwraps herself and grabs the bottle of wine and takes a large gulp.

Chloe laughs at Beca's reaction, it seems there was going to be quite a story to come.  
"Ok, I have to hear this story." Chloe asks, mostly intrigued and comforted by the fact this chick was still in Germany.  
"Do I get a say in this?" Beca shouts, not wanting to relive these memories.  
"No." Stacie and Chloe say in unison.  
Beca glares at both of them, before taking another gulp out of the wine bottle.  
"So, in our final year, we had a German exchange student. She was this tall, gorgeous blonde. She had these electric blue eyes and this amazingly toned body." Stacie describes, remembering Luisa in vivid detail, "She was a singer and an amazing one at that."  
Beca remembers the sound of Luisa's singing, the notes she could hit still made Beca's hairs stand on end.  
"She had this odd sexual energy that she gave off. All the guys wanted her and all the girls wanted to be her, except Beca, who stood with the guys on this one." Stacie snorts, watching Beca sculling the wine.

Chloe gets the feeling these weren't overly good memories for Beca.  
"What happened?" Chloe asks, in spite of herself, she could see Beca was uncomfortable but she needed to here the rest of the story.  
"Luisa's music room was right next to the room where Beca developed her photos in. So, they bumped into each other a lot and their interactions were rather entertaining." Stacie smirks, gleefully at the memories.  
Beca groans shoving her face into a cushion because she was now out of wine.  
"Beca would get all confused and shout complements and awkward pick up lines at her for no real reason." Stacie sniggers, looking at her friend, "My favourite one was, you're eyes should come with a map, because I keep getting lost in them."  
Chloe snorts looking over at Beca, "Oh Beca!"  
"I was 18, ok! And I swear she was some kind of witch. I never acted like that with anyone, she must have put some kind of spell on me." Beca yells, the wine suddenly kicking in.

Chloe and Stacie laugh at her ridiculous shouting. Chloe looks back down at Beca's phone, the woman was stunning. Chloe clicks on her photos and starts scrolling through them.  
"Why are you looking at her photos?" Beca asks, stressed.  
"Don't worry, I just need know how jealous I need to be." Chloe says, dismissively, causing Beca's face to contorts into massive drunken confusion.  
Stacie sniggers, "Don't worry, Chloe. Beca wouldn't have known what to do with her back then, so nothing major really happened."  
"I resent that!" Beca frowns, feeling very attacked.  
Stacie throws her head back laughing. Beca didn't like thinking about Luisa, it brought back memories she'd rather forget. Luisa caused her a lot of startling feelings in her that she never really understood, well not until she got older and started dating was when she realised having a boyfriend wasn't her thing.

"So, what did happen?" Chloe asks, as she looks at Luisa's pictures.  
"No!" Beca shouts, "Don't you dare tell her!"  
Chloe looks up surprised, Stacie grins evilly.  
"Suppose I don't, and Chloe comes to my room later and asks?" Stacie asks, full knowing she was going to tell Chloe.  
"Stacie!" Beca shouts, throwing her last cushion at her.  
"Beca, it wasn't even that bad. It was actually pretty tame by my standards. So what if she wanted a little action with her maus." Stacie smirks, letting enough info out to get both women worked up.  
"No!" Beca cries, covering her ears.  
"Her mouse?" Chloe's eyes widen in surprise, "Were you's dating?"  
"Hardly, but nobody realised that Luisa had just as big a thing for Beca, as Beca had for her." Stacie says, remembering how surprised she was.

Chloe gives Beca a sideways glance, she still had her ears covered. As much as it pained Chloe to make Beca go through this, she had to find out what happened and to make sure this chick wouldn't be a future threat.  
"What happened between them? And what's with the mouse business?" Chloe asks, beyond intrigued.  
"She used to call Beca her tiny maus, because she was little. Beca hated it, but none of us realised that maus was a term of endearment in Germany." Stacie explains, "Then, on our last day and her last day in America, she cornered Beca in the photo lab and pinned her to the wall and kissed her."  
"Shut up!" Chloe gasps, surprised.  
"Yeah! I have no idea how long it went on for but when I walked in, it was pretty steamy in there." Stacie fans herself, Beca groans, even if she can't hear them she knew which part of the story she was at.  
"Once Luisa heard me come in, she pulled away and said, _Auf Wiedersehen, meine tiny maus! Until we meet again_." Stacie impersonates, "And then she kind of strutted out, leaving Beca in a puddle in the floor."

"Nobody but Beca and I knew that story. She's forbidden me from telling anyone." Stacie grins, so thankful she finally told someone.  
Chloe laughs, as she pulls Beca's hands away from her ears.  
"That isn't that bad of a story, Beca." She puts her arm around her for comfort, not actually providing it though, only causing more stirring feelings.  
"Easy for you to say." Beca grumbles, "Stuff like that never happened to me and never happened since, thank god! I'm not sure my tiny heart could handle it."  
"Easy for me? What? Do you think I've never had a lesbian experience before?" Chloe raises an eyebrow.  
Beca and Stacie look at Chloe in shock. They had never really ever discussed their sex lives with each other before, but since they were living with each other, they might as well start really getting to know each other.

"I think this story deserves more wine." Stacie says, quickly hurrying to the fridge.  
Chloe laughs, retracting her arm from Beca, "It's not that bad…" Then Chloe really has a think about it, "No, actually bring the wine."  
Beca looks at Chloe astonished, wondering what her past stories would reveal.  
"Here is the wine." Stacie runs back into the living room and pours them all another glass, "Ok, start your story."  
"Um.. lets see.." Chloe wonders where to start, "Well, it was about a month after we got back from Niagara Falls. My friends Aubrey and Amy thought it might be good for me to go on a blind date."  
"So, they set you up with a woman?" Beca frowns, of all the things she's heard about Aubrey, she assumes that would be the last thing she'd do.  
Chloe sniggers, "Well, not exactly. You see, that set me up with a friend of a friend. They told me his name was CR, weird but whatever. They told me they had heard great things and he was really into music, so I was like ok sure, a night out, I'm down."  
"What those two bone heads never realised was CR stood for Cythina Rose." Chloe says, causing Stacie to choke on her wine and Beca to gasps, "No Way!"

Chloe laughs, remembering her own shock when this beautiful black women, who was handsomely dressed, met her at the restaurant.  
"What did you do?" Stacie asks, very interested.  
"Well, I stayed, she had this beautiful face and this divine chocolate skin. I explained to her that my friends thought they were setting me up with a guy. She looked so embarrassed but I was ready for a good night so I told let's have dinner anyway." Chloe says, sipping her wine, "She was a lot of fun, while she wasn't exactly my type, but I was having too good a time to go home. So we went to hers instead." Chloe finishes, grinning at the memory of that night.  
Beca's mouth dropped, "You guys hooked up?"  
"Yep! She knew it wasn't going further than that night because I wasn't her type either, but why couldn't we have fun in the mean time?" Chloe sighs, happily, "She did, however, open my eyes to a whole new world of pleasure."  
Stacie snorts into her wine glass, "It's a wondrous place to be."

"Did you tell your friends she was a woman?" Beca asks, a little stunned.  
"No actually." Chloe admits, sheepishly, "I just told them it wasn't the right fit, and they shrugged and went on with life. So, when Aubrey comes to visit, nobody tell her! She'll have an aneurysm."  
"She not into girls?" Stacie asks, thinking her friend could be a new challenge.  
"No, it's not just that. I think she was just trying so hard to give me one great night to show me not all guys were pigs and it ended up being a female, I didn't want to disappoint her that it didn't go exactly as she planned." Chloe laughs, "Such is life, am I right?"  
"Do you still talk to her? Cynthia-Rose?" Stacie asks, interestedly.  
"Yeah, sometimes. She got married recently, I think about two months after our date she met the love of her life. And the rest is history." Chloe smiles, happily, "If only I could a have a similar happy ending."

Beca looks at her red headed friend, she wanted to get married one day with someone she loves. She never specified it had to be male. Beca never thought about getting married, to be honest, she never saw it in her future, at least until now.  
' _Is that what I want? To marry Chloe?_ ' The random thought surprises Beca so much, ' _You barely know her, you idiot!_ ' She scolds, forcing herself to look away.  
"Well, that's my lesbian story. Stacie, have you got one?" Chloe asks.  
"How long do you have?" Beca smirks, looking at her best friend.  
"I should be offended by that statement, but I'm really not." Stacie leans back on the couch and sips her wine, "I have a lot of stories."

Chloe laughs, feeling a little closer to her new friends. She realises she still has Beca's phone on her hand.  
"So, what will we do with our German friend?" She asks, as she unlocks the phone.  
"Oh god! Please don't bring her up again." Beca grimaces, to afraid to look at the phone, "She scares the living daylights out of me! I want someone who only mildly scares me, in a good way."  
Stacie laughs, getting the feeling that Beca was way drunker than she was letting on. Chloe continues to look at the phone, the woman was gorgeous, but Chloe didn't see her as a threat anymore. She clicks accept.  
"What did you just do?" Beca gasps, putting her wine down.  
"What?" Chloe shrugs, "You're way better than the weird kid you were in school. You're an amazing photographer, you have an amazing job and you're an amazing friend. Why shouldn't she know that you're better than her tiny mouse ever was?"

Beca seems stunned at Chloe's words, she honestly didn't realise how much she had grown since her days in high school. Even if she had only know Chloe a few months, she obviously saw something in her that Beca didn't know existed. The thought makes Beca all giddy inside, maybe she did have a chance with Chloe. As that wonderful thought passes through Beca's mind, she suddenly notices Chloe talking a selfie on her phone.  
"What are you doing now?" Beca frowns, as she watches Chloe starts to type something into her phone.  
"Nothing." She grins, throwing back the phone, "Good night ladies."  
And with that she gets up and walks away. Leaving Beca and Stacie wondering what she did.

Stacie goes and sits with Beca, as Beca picks up the phone. She opens Facebook to see Chloe had posted her selfie on Beca's account.  
"Cutie GF." Stacie reads, before cracking up laughing again, "Well, I guess Chloe is a little jealous of Luisa."  
"GF? Why did she write that, Stacie? What does this mean?" Beca rambles, very confused, turning herself to yell over the couch, "Chloe? What does this mean?"  
Chloe doesn't answer, all Beca gets is a new notification on her phone.  
"Chloe Beale has liked your photo." Beca reads, feeling a little faint.  
' _Well, looks like things are getting interesting again.'_ Stacie grins to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: Hey Guys, thanks for the great comments on the last chapter. I'm so happy you're enjoying my story. We've got a really long way to go, so I hope I can keep you guys interested. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **One week later**

Chloe rushes around the apartment, tidying up. She had received a call from a very concerned Aubrey a few days ago after a selfie with an odd caption appeared on Facebook. While Chloe told her it was a joke and that she posted it to mess with her roommate, Aubrey insisted she come for a visit. Now, it wasn't that Chloe was worried, but she had a small twinge of concern. Aubrey was her best friend and she loved her with all her heart, but she could be a little abrupt and even though the selfie thing was a joke, she really did like Beca and didn't need Aubrey scaring her off.  
"Chloe, its going to be fine." Stacie assures her, sipping her coffee, "I promise that we'll be on our best behaviour."  
"It's not you guys I'm worried about." Chloe stresses, "Aubrey…well she could loosen up a little. I don't want her to offend you guys."  
Beca snorts, "Trust me, with the shit Stacie and I say to each other all the time, it'll be hard to offend us."  
"Yeah, but you guys are best friends and know you're joking. Aubrey won't be joking." Chloe says, pretending not to be nervous, "And it won't be Stacie she'll be going after. It'll be you, Beca."

Beca frowns, "Why me?"  
Stacie scoffs, "Oh come on, Beca! Chloe posted that girlfriend picture on Facebook and now her friend thinks you guys are fucking."  
"Jesus Christ!" Beca covers her face, shaking her head at her friend.  
"Very eloquent way of putting that, Stace!" Chloe smiles, exasperatedly.  
"What? I've been putting up with your sexual tension for almost four months." Stacie argues, "I swear if you guys don't start fucking, I'm locking you in a room together until you do."  
Beca gets up and walks away, "God have mercy on my soul."  
"She'll suffocate you in your sleep one day, you know that right?" Chloe smirks, as she watches Beca walk down the hall.  
"Yep! She told me that the first time I surprised her with a sleepover." Stacie says, taking another sip of her coffee.

Chloe continues to straighten up the apartment, Stacie watches as she goes. Chloe seemed freaked out about her friend coming, maybe they should give them some space.  
"Hey, why don't Beca and I take off for a few hours? Give you a chance to catch up with Aubrey." Stacie suggests, "Maybe she'll get all her 'concerns' out before we get back."  
Chloe mulls over it for a moment, "Actually that might be a good idea. Would that be ok?"  
Stacie laughs, "Of course, I suggested it. I'll go get Tiny Tim and get out of your hair."  
Chloe gives Stacie a giant hug before Stacie could get up.  
"I'm so glad I found you guys!" She mutters, knowing how great her new friends are.  
"Yeah, yeah don't get all mushy on me now." Stacie says, but is actually super touched, "You need to have your game face on."  
"You're right!" Chloe pulls back, putting on a serious face.  
"That a girl! And when she gets here, tell her you're in love with a hobbit and there's nothing she can do about it." Stacie says, encouragingly.  
"Jesus Christ!" Chloe facepalms.

…

"Aubrey!" Chloe sings as she opens the door.  
"Hey Chloe!" The blonde woman smiles.  
"Come in!" Chloe grabs her and pulls her inside.  
The two woman hug, it had been a long time since they've seen each other.  
"It's so good to see you, Chloe." Aubrey smiles, though her eyes wander around the apartment.  
"I'm so happy you're here, I've missed you." Chloe gushes, pulling back from the hug.  
Aubrey smiles at Chloe, noticing she looked different somehow. She couldn't put her finger on it.  
"So, how's New York?" Aubrey asks, while letting her judgmental eye wander around the apartment again.  
"Oh it's great! I love living in the city!" Chloe says, happily, "Come sit, I'll make you a coffee."

Aubrey tries hard to not turn her nose up at the kitchen, the apartment was so basic by her standards. She sits at the counter hesitantly. Chloe notices her friend's face as she slowly walks over to the counter.  
' _Great!_ ' Chloe thinks sadly.  
"Your apartment is…charming." Aubrey comments, trying to hide her judgey tone.  
"Stop it." Chloe turns, to her best friend.  
"What?" Aubrey says, innocently.  
"Please Aubrey, just don't." Chloe frowns, "I know what you're doing, and it's not going to work."  
Aubrey huffs, "I don't know what you're talking about."  
Chloe rolls her eyes, she knew this would happen. She loved Aubrey but she always thought she knew what was best for Chloe and that wasn't always the case.  
"Bree, I like this place, I'm happy here." Chloe says, causing Aubrey to frown, "I love you, but would it kill you to give what I like a chance?"  
"It might." Aubrey mumbles, crossing her arms.

Chloe sighs heavily, she hadn't even been her for a minute and they were already fighting.  
"Aubrey, I'm a grown woman, please stop mothering me." Chloe puts her hands on her hips, knowing exactly what she was already doing.  
Aubrey purses her lips together, she knew she had to stop, but she couldn't help herself. Chloe was to nice for her own good and she needed protecting.  
"So, where is this 'new girlfriend'?" She asks, her voice heavy with sarcasm.  
Chloe rolls her eyes, "I told you, it was a joke between friends and she's not here at the moment." Chloe set Audrey's coffee in front of her, "Do not wipe the rim, everything in this house is clean!" Chloe warns, before turning to get her own coffee.  
Aubrey eyes the cup, quickly wiping it so Chloe wouldn't see.  
"I saw that!" Chloe snaps, even though she still had her back turned.

Aubrey scowls, she promised herself she would give Chloe's new life a chance. But she was having trouble adjusting to the fact that Chloe was having a good time without her. It was always just the two of them, then Tom came along and after that nothing was the same.  
"So, how come your beloved roommates aren't here?" Aubrey says, with a bite.  
Chloe huffs again, "Because they thought it might be nice for us to catch up, since we hadn't seen each for a while. They're very considerate."  
Aubrey scowls, "How nice."  
Chloe rolls her eyes, "They're not replacing you, Aubrey. So, please stop feeling sorry for yourself."  
Aubrey's scowl gets deeper, obviously her guilt trip wasn't going to work.  
"So, I know you've missed me, but this visit sort of came out of nowhere. And you can't have flown all the way out her because of a joke post on Facebook. So, how come you came to visit?" Chloe asks, knowing Aubrey wouldn't have come all this way for nothing.

"I just wanted to check to see if you were doing ok. Can't a best friend check on her friend without getting the third degree?" Aubrey asks, defensively.  
"I'm not moving back to Atlanta, Aubrey." Chloe says, emotionless, knowing exactly why she was here.  
"Why not?" Aubrey demands, "You've done New York for a few months, isn't it out of your system yet?"  
Chloe tries to settle her the anger that was raising. She had a feeling this was going to happen, Aubrey was a lot of things, but subtle wasn't one of them. Chloe could read her like a book.  
"Aubrey, my life is here now. I love my job and I love the city. I'm having a so much fun here.."  
"Without me." Aubrey says, sounding extremely hurt.  
"Don't! Don't do that to me!" Chloe sets her coffee down, "I asked you if you wanted to come with me and you said no. Don't make me feel guilty for getting on with my life and making new friends."  
"With some alt girl?" Aubrey cries.  
"What's wrong with Beca? You don't even know her." Chloe frowns, at her friend.

Aubrey couldn't help but be hurt that this random alt chick was swooping in and being besties with Chloe. Not to mention Chloe was obviously falling hard for her. This wasn't the person Chloe was suppose to end up with, Aubrey knew that.  
"She isn't right for you. She can't offer you financial stability and what kind of job is a travel blogger anyway?" Aubrey turns her nose up at the thought.  
"Are you mad because she female?" Chloe asks, seriously, knowing Beca's job wasn't really the problem.  
"When have you ever had a thing for women?" Aubrey stands up, suddenly, "I've known you forever and you've never had a lesbian experience."  
"That's not true and you don't know everything about me, Bree!" Chloe shouts, "And being attracted to a woman isn't that weird, you can't tell me you've never thought about it?"  
"I never have. Not once!" Aubrey fights.

Chloe rolls her eyes, she wasn't having this conversation anymore. She just knew this was going to happen. Aubrey meant well, but she always went the wrong way around it.  
"Aubrey! Stop! Just stop!" Chloe shouts, "Why are we fighting? This should be a happy time, but instead you're just criticising my new life, because you feel left out."  
Tears spring to Aubrey's eyes, "You just left me behind."  
"I didn't leave you Aubrey. You knew I needed this, and I call you everyday." Chloe argues, knowing her friend was just trying to make her feel bad, "I would never replace you and you know that."  
Aubrey knew she was being selfish, she knew she was being irrational. But she had been miserable since Chloe left and Chloe's been in New York happier than she's ever been. It was hard not to be jealous.

...

"Here's your coffee ladies." Bev says, setting them down on the table, "Your food won't be too long."  
"Thanks Bev!" Stacie smiles, "How's life, met any new hotties?" She wiggles her eyebrows.  
Bev laughed, "A lady never tells, missy."  
"I guess I'm not a lady than!" Stacie jokes, causing Beca to snort into her coffee.  
Bev playfully hits Stacie in the shoulder as she walks away chuckling.  
"How do you think Chloe's going?" Beca asks, checking her phone for the 100th time.  
"I'm sure she's fine, but she did look really worried when we left." Stacie says, couldn't help but be just as concerned, "I wonder how anal this chick is to get our fun loving Chloe all worked up."  
"Hm." Beca nods, looking at her phone again.

The two woman fall silent, Beca staring at her phone and Stacie looking out the window. Beca felt bad for leaving Chloe to deal with her friend, mainly because she thinks she was partly to blame. Even though there really wasn't anything going on between them yet, she gets the feeling Chloe's friend isn't going to like her no matter what she did.  
"Do you think she'll still be there when we get back?" Beca muses, out loud.  
"I think so, Chloe wants us to meet her." Stacie replies.  
"Great." Beca grumbles.  
"I bet she's not that bad." Stacie assures her, "Maybe she's cute."  
"Jesus, can you give your sexual conquests a break?" Beca laughs.  
"Why? I love being sexual, I'm almost as good at it as I am with science." Stacie says, confidently.  
"So, you're saying saying you're smarter than you are good in bed?" Beca asks, curiously.  
"Science is my first love, Bec!" She says, dreamily.

Beca laughs at her friend, "Well, I hope she is cute, it's been ages since you've been out on a date. You should go have some fun, you've been working way too hard lately."  
"Yeah, it's the final year experiments, if they don't kill me from stress, I'm sure they'll kill me when they blow up." Stacie giggles, sipping her coffee again.

 ***Beep Beep***

Beca picks up her phone and laughs.  
"What is it?" Stacie asks, interestedly.  
"Well, I could still be right about Chloe being a murderer." Beca grins at her phone.  
"Oh no, why?" Stacie smirks, wondering if Chloe had exploded yet.  
"She says, _'She doesn't just hate you, she wants me to come back to Atlanta! I swear to god, if she wasn't my best friend, I'd…_ ' and there are several knife emojis at the end." Beca laughs, "Well, looks like I have a new enemy now. Man, how many am I up to now?"  
"Let's see… you said there was Ashley from your fifth grade art class, because she stole your markers, Donald from seventh grade, because you accidentally sat on his glasses and broke them." Stacie starts listing.  
"That was his own fault, who takes off their glasses and puts them on the seat next to them?" Beca shakes her head.

"Bumper Allen from ninth grade because he stole your sandwich and you gave him a wedgie." Stacie smirking gleefully at that memory.  
"Serves him right, stupid Bumper!" Beca scowls.  
"Then was Jesse Swanson in your first year of photography school…" Stacie continues.  
"How was I supposed to know that I wasn't really not into guys?" Beca shrugs, awkwardly, still feeling guilty about that one.  
"And then there was Benji Applebaum, you know, for breaking Jesse's heart." Stacie grins sheepishly, remembering how angry Benji was.  
"So, I was at a total of five until today." Beca smiles, awkwardly, "Yay… number six."  
"Well Beca, it's an achievement nonetheless." Stacie gives her a sympathetic smile.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've been hated for no reason." Beca sighs.  
"That's true, you are a weirdo." Stacie agrees, as she sees their food coming.  
"Why am I friends with you?" Beca asks, a little offended.  
"Coz no one else will." Stacie deadpans.  
"Shut up, gigantor!" Beca snaps, frowning at her friend, as there food gets set down.

 ***Beep Beep***

"Chloe says we can come back whenever we want. But Aubrey is still there." Beca sighs, "Do we even want to meet her?"  
"It can't hurt to get on Chloe's friends good side, you guys will be dating soon enough." Stacie says, biting into a piece of bacon.  
"Do you have some kind of money on us or something?" Beca asks, suspiciously.  
"No, but I love love Bec, and you guys are falling in love." She points at Beca with her bacon.  
"We are not, I don't even know her that well." Beca mumbles, blushing.  
"Yes, but I know you well and this is happening, trust me! And I expect a fucking amazing dress as your maid of honour." Stacie demands, as she fully turns her attention to her breakfast.  
Beca lowers her head to the table, too exasperated to argue with her friend.

...

Chloe had managed to calm Aubrey down, well at least a little but she herself was still quite upset. She loved Aubrey but she didn't always love her attitude.  
"So, they're nice to you? Your roommates?" Aubrey says, with a tight lip.  
"Yes, Bree. They're great and so nice! Stacie is a science major and she super smart. And Beca runs a New York travel blog for the website, travel your world. She really takes some amazing pictures." Chloe gushes about her new friends.  
"How nice. It seems you guys are getting close." She says, with a twinge of jealousy.  
"We are, actually. They seem to get me as well as you do." Chloe smiles.  
"How? There've only known you for four months." Aubrey snaps, angrily.  
Chloe frowns, "Well, that's not entirely true. They've actually know about me for two years."  
"What?" Aubrey asks, sceptically.  
"I told you about this Bree. Beca took my picture at Niagara Falls." Chloe sighs, "Do you even listen when I talk about them?"  
Aubrey mumbles something not audible, turning her head away, Chloe assumes it's a no.  
"Come on, let me show you." Chloe grumbles, holding out her hand.

Aubrey reluctantly takes it, immediately Chloe's yanks her to her feet and drags her down the hall to Beca's room. Aubrey felt uneasy being in the room of someone she's never met, let alone didn't particularly like.  
"What are we doing in here?" Aubrey snaps, taking her hand back.  
"Here! This is the photo Beca took of me two years ago, she says it's one of her best she's ever taken. And it inspired her to continue photography." Chloe points to the photo on the wall.  
Aubrey looks at it, and it pained her to admit, it was really amazing. But she didn't show it, she really wanted to hate Beca. She really wanted to make out that this girl was just not right for her friend, so she could just pick Chloe up and take her home, and then she would have her best friend back.  
"She has it on her wall, isn't that a little stalkerish?" Aubrey sneers.  
"That's what you took away from that?" Chloe crosses her arms, "Would it kill you to give her a chance?"  
"It might!" She answers, that question for the second time today.

Chloe was getting fed up with her friend.  
"I like her Aubrey, I really like her. Which means, I need you to be ok with her." Chloe scowls, "And I need you to be ok with the fact that I live here now."  
"I'm trying, Chloe!" Aubrey pouts, trying to employ the guilt trip again.  
"No, you're not." Chloe raises an eyebrow at her, "So, you better start, coz they'll be back any minute."  
"Ugh, fine! But only because it's you!" She screws up her face, "I wouldn't have to do this shit for Amy!"

Chloe hears the front door close, her nervous shoot up tenfold. They were back and now she had to introduce them to Aubrey. It was now or never.  
"Be nice!" Chloe warns, as they walk back to the kitchen.  
"I will!" Aubrey snaps.  
They walk in to see Beca and Stacie laughing about about one of Bev's hot guys she's been seeing. She eventually caved and told them one story.  
"I swear, you're going to be Bev when your 60." Beca laughs.  
"I'll take that as a compliment, she is fabulous and so sassy!" Stacie agrees, as she ties her long hair up out of her face.  
"Hey guys, how was brunch?" Chloe asks, as she enters the kitchen with a sullen blonde behind her.  
"Ah, we just went to Bev's diner instead." Beca explains.  
"Yeah the food is cheaper and the staff are more entertaining." Stacie says, causing Beca to start laughing again.

"Guys, this is my best friend, Aubrey. Aubrey, this is Beca and Stacie." Chloe introduces them.  
Stacie tilts her head at Aubrey, something about her seemed familiar.  
"It's really great to meet you, Aubrey." Beca says, politely, "We've heard a lot about you."  
"Hm." Aubrey purses her lips, earning her an elbow from Chloe, "It's nice to meet you both." She says, reluctantly.  
"Haven't we met somewhere before?" Stacie asks, frowning as she stares at Aubrey.  
Aubrey is taken by surprise by the question, as is everyone else.  
She looks at Stacie, "I don't think so."  
"You've probably just seen photos in my room, Stace." Chloe reasons.  
"No, that's not it." Stacie mutters as she continues to give Aubrey a hard stare, making Aubrey blush.

Beca frowns at her friend, ' _And here I thought I was going to be the weird one!_ '  
"Hey, Chloe tells us you're becoming a lawyer." Beca tries to start a conversation, since Stacie was otherwise preoccupied.  
"Yes, that's what I'm studying at the moment." Aubrey answers, not elaborating.  
"She's going to take the bar soon, maybe she can take it here in New York and practise here."  
Chloe jokes, though slightly hoping she would.  
Even if Aubrey was stubborn, hardheaded and overbearing, she was still her best friend and she wanted her to come to New York.  
Aubrey rolls her eyes, "I haven't decided yet. This is the first time I've been to New York since we went to Niagara Falls."  
"I still can't believe we were all on the same boat, at the same time." Chloe laughs, nudging Beca.  
"I know, weird coincidence, right?" Beca laughs, uncomfortably because of the weird look Aubrey was giving her.

Stacie stares at Aubrey, while they all talk. But it hits her when they mention the Niagara Falls trip.  
"That's it!" She shouts, pointing at Aubrey.  
Aubrey looks startled by Stacie's shouting, both Chloe and Beca look at her wondering if she's lost her mind.  
"Beca, she was that cute blonde I tried to pick up on the boat, remember?" Stacie grabs Beca and points to Aubrey.  
Beca takes a good look at Aubrey, she couldn't be 100% sure it was the same person, it was two years ago. Besides Beca had trouble remembering what she eat the day before, let alone remember a specific person that she saw for about two seconds.  
"Maybe?" Beca tilts her head.  
"I gave you my number, how come you never called me?" Stacie questions Aubrey, still a little offended that she struck out.  
Chloe looks positively stunned, looking between her two friends.  
"I..I..don't know what you're talking about." Aubrey stumbles on her words, blushing heavily.

"Oh come on, remember I winked at you before we got on the boat." Stacie says, seemingly remembering everything.  
"Oh that's right, you were striking stupid poses in your poncho." Beca laughs, she loves those photos she took of her.  
Aubrey blushes once again, "I'm sorry, I think you're thinking of a different person."  
"No, it was definitely you. I'd never forget a face as cute as yours. You were staring at me in the boat so I came over. You said I intrigued you." Stacie smirks, "That's why I gave you my number."  
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Aubrey mutters, crossing her arms.  
Aubrey looks out the window, trying to avoid Stacie's intense stare and Beca and Chloe's bewildered expressions. Chloe blinks at her friend's red face, she could tell that she was lying about not remembering Stacie. She couldn't believe it, and all the grief she just gave her about liking Beca.  
"You filthy hypocrite!" Chloe says, half offended, half amused.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: Hey Guys, I think I'm going to try an aim for an update every Thursday (Australia time), providing I'm not working. Writing is going fairly well, about to start chapter 15. I'm so glad you guys like the story, because there seems to be a whole lot of it haha. Thanks again for the kind words and love for this story, enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

Beca wakes up early, she was blogging about a famous restaurant today. Even though the blog was supposed to be about non touristy places, some places are still worth a look. She cleans her camera lenses as she packs the necessary ones she needed for the day. She hums to herself, not noticing someone standing at her door. Chloe leans against the doorframe, watching Beca carefully handling her camera equipment. A smile tugs at the corner of her lips, while letting a full swoon fill her body.  
"Whatcha doin?" Chloe asks, walking up behind Beca.  
Beca nearly jumps out of her skin, "Oh my god! Don't do that!"  
Chloe giggles, sending shivers through Beca's body.  
"I swear I'm going to have to put a bell on you." Beca grumbles, though smiling to herself.  
"But then I couldn't see the cute faces you make when I sneak up on you." Chloe pouts, as she swings herself down on the bed in front of Beca.  
Beca gives her a playful glare, she secretly liked it when Chloe snuck up on her. Her laughter was her favourite sound.

"Where's Stacie this morning?" Chloe asks, wondering why the apartment was so quiet this morning.  
"She has decided to refresh Aubrey's memory and then go show her the sights of New York." Beca smirks, as she watches Chloe's mouth drop.  
"No way!" Chloe gasps.  
"Yep, she left early this morning to go surprise her at her hotel." Beca explains, still amused by her friend's antics.  
"Oh my lord, I'd love to be a fly on the wall with those two." Chloe sniggers, wondering how her best friend is going to handle cool and confident Stacie.  
"I've told Stacie to snapchat me, but she seems very taken with Aubrey, so I doubt it," Beca smirks.  
"I'd never have picked Stacie to be into Aubrey." Chloe says, in disbelief.  
"Well, Stacie doesn't have much rhyme or reason to who she's attracted to." Beca shrugs, "Her crushes don't really surprise me anymore."

Chloe nods, realising that Stacie was more open to her sexuality than most people.  
' _Hm, good for her.'_ Chloe thinks, pleasantly.  
"So, where are you heading off to on this fine New York day?" Chloe asks, interestedly.  
Every week Beca was running off to an interesting place in New York, she's been to underground bars, old theatres, hidden restaurants and she even went on a dessert tour through the burrows. Chloe reads her blog religiously, not just because it's Beca who writes it, but because she learns more and more about New York every week.  
"Well, actually I'm heading to a pretty famous restaurant." Beca answers, putting her camera equipment back in her bag.  
"Famous? Aren't you supposed to go to undiscovered gems in the city?" Chloe grins.  
"Yes, however, this place is still worth a look. It was opened in 1954 and has been visited by many famous people over the years. It has a two other restaurants in other states, but this one is the original and it's the best one." Beca says, excitedly, "I used to go there when I was a kid for my birthday, it still is one of my favourite places in New York. It's called Serendipity 3."

"I have never heard of it." Chloe frowns, wondering how famous it could be.  
"That's ok, I can't imagine everyone has. But they have a signature dessert that they're famous for, The Frozen Hot Chocolate." Beca says, dreamily.  
"How is that possible?" Chloe laughs, thinking that was the oddest thing she had ever heard.  
"It's hard to describe, but it's like a delicious, chocolatey, frozen delight in your mouth. You would love it." Beca smiles, "Hey, what are you doing today? You should come with me."  
Chloe's insides positively soar, Beca had asked her to come with her, to spend time with her. Chloe would have canceled her whole day if she did have plans or work, but she was free.  
"I have no clients today, so I'm all yours." She smiles, happily, watching Beca's cheeks turn rosy.  
Beca clears her throat, pretending she wasn't blushing at the fact the Chloe said she was hers.  
' _It's a figure of speech, you loser!_ ' Beca scolds herself, something she seems to do frequently.  
"Great, it'll be nice to share some of these experiences with someone for a change." Beca says, trying to sound as normal as possible.

Chloe beams at Beca, she was beyond excited to have some time alone with her.  
"Ok, well let me go get changed." Chloe stands up.  
"What you have on is fine." Beca says, absentmindedly, closing her camera bag.  
"Beca, I'm in my pjs." Chloe smirks, looking down at her plain tee and cotton shorts.  
Beca looks up, "I.. oh.. sorry. I mean, it looks great on you.." She stammers, blushing, "But yeah, you should change."  
"Any requests on my outfit?" Chloe asks, with a flirty edge.  
The tone of her voice sends a bolt down Beca's spine, and she flushes even deeper. Images of Chloe in sexy clothing flash through her mind at a rapid pace. She takes a hard swallow forcing herself to think about Chloe in a respectful manner, despite Chloe being the one who put those thoughts in her head.  
"Anything will be fine." Her voice breaks, looking anywhere but at Chloe.  
Chloe bites her lip at how adorably cute Beca is being.  
"Ok, give me half an hour and I'll be ready for our date." Chloe sings, as she leaves the room.  
Beca's head shoots up, "What did you say?" But she doesn't answer "Chloe? What did you say?"

...

Beca could have been wearing the heaviest of bags on her back and she wouldn't have noticed. All that matter was the excited redhead fluttering around her. Even though Chloe had been in the city for four months, she hadn't had much time to see it. This was her first chance to really see the city and she was being shown by Beca, Chloe's day couldn't get much better.  
"Oh Beca, the buildings are so beautiful! With all the brown stone!" Chloe gasps, at all the apartment buildings.  
"I should take you over to Brooklyn if you like the brown stone." Beca smiles, watching her smile dance delightfully on face.  
"There is so much to see, it's a lot to take in." Chloe says, feeling overwhelmed, "OMG! Is that Dylan's Candy Bar?"  
Beca laughs, "Yeah, which means, we're not far from our destination."  
"Oh but Becs, can we please stop and get some candy?" Chloe begs, feeling like she was a little kid again.  
"Dude! On the way back." Beca says, struggling to say no to Chloe's pouting face, "We are going to eat dessert right now."  
Chloe sighs, extravagantly, "Okay!"

Beca rolls her eyes as she falls back beside Beca, still looking around at all the amazing architecture and taking in the city atmosphere. The two women were walking quite close to each other, Beca notices more than Chloe. Her stomach becomes a playground for butterflies to play in as Chloe's hand bumps Beca's. Beca tries to concentrate on her breathing, because her brain keeps forgetting to do it. Chloe seems to make her feel a little intoxicated. Their hands bump again, this time Chloe simply takes it in her own. Beca's body immediately stops functioning for a split second as she feels Chloe's warm hand take hers. Chloe laces her fingers through Beca's, holding her hand firm. Chloe tries hard not to burst as Beca regains her senses and returns the pressure.  
"What a beautiful day." Chloe remarks, letting a dazzling smile take over her face.  
Beca looks up at Chloe, "Yeah… Beautiful."

A few minutes later, as they continue down 60th street, they happened upon a very large line in front a very small shopfront. The shopfront had beautiful black boarder with shiny gold writing, spelling out the restaurants name.  
"This is it? It's so small." Chloe remarks, not expecting it to be this small.  
"Wait til you get inside." Beca grins.  
"Oh, but look at the line." Chloe pouts, "it must be 50 people deep."  
"Yeah, we aren't waiting in the line. In fact the place doesn't open for another half hour." Beca says, walking towards the front door, still holding Chloe's hand, pulling her along behind her.  
"Becs, what are we doing?" Chloe asks, in an urgent whisper, feeling angry glares from the waiting crowd.  
"Chlo, it's cool!" Beca assures her, opening the door and letting her in, only then letting go of her hand.

They enter the restaurant, Chloe is instantly hit with the quirkiness of the place. The entrance is like an old time general store, selling bits and bobs and delicious take home treats. She looks up and see giant butterflies all over the ceiling. She follows Beca further in, she notices a wooden staircase to her right.  
' _There must be a second level._ ' Chloe looks up as she passes.  
She continues on, noticing the décor, there were old white metal café chairs and mix and match round tables, with stain glass light fixtures hanging from random parts of the ceiling. While other parts of the ceilings were glass panels, other parts were stain glass windows. This had to be the strangest looking restaurant Chloe had ever been too.  
Suddenly, a guy approaches them. He's dressed in black pants and black T-shirt He obviously worked here.  
"Hey, you must be from the travel site?" He asks.  
"Yes, I'm Beca Mitchell from travel your world, I spoke to Michelle about doing an article on some of your desserts." She says, ignoring Chloe's amazed look on her face as she continues to look around the strange place, "And this is my assistant for today, Chloe Beale."  
At the mention of her name, Chloe immediately pays attention.  
"Oh sorry, hi there." She grins, sheepishly.

He smiles, obviously used to the fact that people can't help but stare in amazement at the quirky restaurant.  
"Awesome, well our chef will start on your desserts you wanted to show in your article. Were you wanting to take pictures while he was making them?" He asks.  
"Yes, that would be great." Beca nods.  
The man turns and asks them to follow him to the kitchen.  
They enter the kitchen, the man introduces them to the chef. He says he would start right away and to ask him any questions she needed. Beca gets out her camera and attaches her desired lens. She also start to voice record on her phone so she can just ask questions at will.  
"Hey, this won't take long, but could hold my bag until we're done?" Beca asks Chloe, hoping she didn't sound like she just brought her to hold her stuff.  
"Of course, give it here." Chloe smiles, happy to watch Beca in action.  
Beca smiles broadly, "You're the best."

Chloe stands off to the side, watching Beca flit around the kitchen taking pictures of the chef making the desserts. Every now and then she would ask questions about the ingredients or why they would do something a certain way. Chloe couldn't help but feel really proud of Beca. Her anxious ball of a roommate was turning into a confident photographer in front of her eyes. After a few minutes the first dessert was finished, it looked amazing, whatever it was. Beca takes several pictures of it before signalling for Chloe to come over.  
"So, this is their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate." Beca says, presenting an ice cream bowl with a stem, filled to the top with chocolate liquid, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  
"Oh my god, it looks too good to eat.. or do you drink it?" Chloe asks, still confused at what it was.  
"Well, it's a bit of both. Here, try it." Beca says, offering her the straw to take the first mouthful.

Chloe takes a mouthful and is instantly transported to a sugary wonderland. Her eyes close on their own as she relishes in the delightfully taste that was dancing around her mouth.  
"Mmmm…" Is all she could manage.

 ***click***

Beca snaps a picture of the pure enjoyment radiating from Chloe's face. She was so wrapped up in the moment that she didn't even notice. Beca looks down at the picture, you called feel the enjoyment in the picture. It was one of many Beca had taken over the last few months, Chloe was extremely photogenic.  
"I'm sorry Beca, but you're going to have to order your own after you finish your pictures because I'm not giving you this." Chloe says, taking another mouthful.  
"I mean that's fine, but if you want to try the next one, you're gonna have to share." Beca says, smartly, knowing Chloe wouldn't miss the next one.  
"What's the next one?" Chloe asks, interestedly.  
"The Golden Opulence Sundae." Beca says, grandly.  
"What makes it golden?" Chloe asks, wondering what's so special about it.  
"It's worth $1000." Beca response.  
"Holy shit!" Chloe gasps, causing the chef to snort with laughter, "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She says, meekly to the chef.  
"Beca! We can't afford $1000." She whispers, panicking.  
"Chloe, its fine. My work covers all this, it's already paid for. This is why I'm covering the restaurant this week, this dessert holds a Guinness World Record." Beca explains, seemingly helping Chloe calm down.

Chloe's eyes widen a little while later as a golden sundae is presented in front of them. It was so shiny that it didn't even look real. Ice cream and chocolate covered in gold leaf, why would anyone create such a thing? Chloe neither knew nor cared as she stared down in wonder at this shiny dessert. Beca takes her photos asking about all the exotic ingredients. Chloe notices other things that come with the dessert, candied fruits, gold covered nuts, chocolate truffles, marzipan cherries and for some reason golden caviar. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would ever eat a $1000 dessert.  
"Ready?" Beca asks, looking apprehensive on where they should even start on this thing.  
"Lets dig in!" Chloe says, picking up her spoon.

...

After a fun filled day full of desserts and sight seeing and one very long stop at the candy store, the two woman enter their apartment fully exhausted. Chloe flops down on the couch, kicking of her shoes.  
"Oh I'm so full, I could sleep for a week." Chloe says, looking like she would full into a food coma, "I can't believe we ate gold!"  
Beca smiles, she had such a fun day with Chloe. She makes a mental note to take her on more adventures in the future. Beca take of her camera bag and lowers it to the ground. She bends down to take off her shoes, suddenly a sharp pain shoots through her lower back, causing her to hiss loudly. Chloe looks up concerned as she see Beca clutch her back.  
"Are you ok?" Chloe asks, getting up.  
"Yeah I'm fine. It's just a nerve that catches in my back every now and then. No biggie." Beca brushes it off. It happened sometimes, with a little heat and some anti-inflammatory gel, it was usually gone in a day or so.

Chloe didn't buy it, she saw it way too often with her clients. She walks over to Beca, watching her trying to move without wincing.  
"It's all this equipment you carry around." She frowns, know Beca doesn't take much precaution.  
"It's fine, it doesn't hurt that bad." Beca lies, not wanting to let on how much pain she was in.  
"Beca, let me have a look at it. I'll massage some gel into it and I bet it'll be better before you know it." Chloe says, grabbing the bottom of Beca's shirt.  
Beca moves to stop her and instantly regrets it, "Ow!"  
"Beca, stop moving like that, come on, please let me massage you?" Chloe begs, knowing she needed to help her.  
It wasn't that Beca hated massages, she just generally didn't like people touching her. But she would love for Chloe to touch her, but she wasn't sure how her own body would react to such a pleasure.  
"Chloe, I'm fine. Honestly." Beca says, forcing herself to smile through her pain.  
"Don't you think I'm not good at my job, Beca?" Chloe pouts, at Beca.

Beca looks into her big blue eyes, she feels her resolve crumpling. She was so strong against pouting and puppy eyes, but when Chloe did it, she could resist. Beca knew she wouldn't get out of this one alive.  
"I did not say that." Beca points, "Don't go putting words in my mouth."  
"Then why won't you let me massage you? It'll make you feel better." She tilts her head, keeping her pout in full force, knowing Beca would break soon enough, "Don't you want to me to make you feel good?"  
"Ok, are you trying to seduce me or give me a massage?" Beca flushes, "I'm getting very mixed signals here. Ow!" A pain shots down her back.  
"A massage, obviously Becs. Now, go to your room take off your clothes." Chloe smirks, walking off to her room to get some oils and anti-inflammatory cream.  
"Ok, you must hear how that sounds!" Beca shouts, watching her walk away, still not having agreed to the massage, "Oowwww!"  
Beca knew she couldn't fight it much longer, her back was hurting too much.  
"Beca! Bedroom, no clothes, now!" Chloe's voices shouts down the hall.

…

"Come on, you have to admit, you had fun today?" Stacie grins at the uptight blonde.  
The two women walk into the entrance of the apartment, walking up to the elevator.  
Aubrey sighs, "I suppose, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting."  
"Oh Aubrey, calm down, anyone would think that you actually liked me." Stacie winks at Aubrey causing her to blush.

"Ok, ok, I had fun." Aubrey smiles in spite of herself.  
"There's that smile." Stacie coos, unabashedly, "That's what made me approach you on the boat."  
They enter the elevator, Aubrey feeling very drawn towards Stacie. She really had never had feelings towards a woman before, but Stacie was so confident and sure of herself, it made Aubrey so intrigued.

"Really? It was my smile?" Aubrey asks, softly, having always wondered what made her approach her.  
"Of course, you have a smile that could make an angel melt." Stacie says, having always been good with a line.  
Aubrey squints at her with a smirk, "How many times have you used that line?"  
"That one? You would be the first. I haven't seen someone with a smile as beautiful as yours." Stacie says, earnestly.  
Aubrey grins, sheepishly, she had to admit, this beautiful brunette was very charming and very attractive. It was all so new to her, but she was excited to see where it would go. Stacie and Aubrey exit the elevator as it opens on their level.  
"Do you think Chloe will be home?" Aubrey asks, though hoping maybe she wouldn't be.  
"Um.. I have no idea, actually." Stacey answers, as she opens the front door, "Why? What did you have in mind?"

Aubrey grins, naughtily as she enters the apartment.  
"Maybe you could tell me a little more about how you like my smile, or other things." Aubrey giggles, letting herself get swept up in Stacie's charm.  
Stacie closes the door behind her, reaching up and stroking Aubrey's face softly. Goosebumps appear on Aubrey's face, she moans needing to feel Stacie closer to her. Aubrey reaches up and runs her hands through Stacie's hair, putting pressure to move Stacie forward. Stacie didn't need telling twice, moving forward. Her lips graze Aubrey's, smelling strawberry's. She was about to really kiss her when she hears a weird sound from down the hall. She pulls back, looking down the hallway.  
"What's wrong?" Aubrey asks, frustrated she was no longer getting attention.  
"I thought I heard something.." Stacie frowns, as she hears moaning.  
"Wait, I hear it too. Is Chloe or Beca here?" Aubrey whispers, a little panicked they could have gotten caught.  
"They could be, come on, let's go look…" Stacie leans in close to Aubrey's ear, "And then we can get back to what we were doing." Making Aubrey giggle.

The two women walk down the hall, the moaning gets louder. Stacie suddenly gets the feeling she might be walking into something she shouldn't see. The moaning is coming from Beca's room.  
' _Oh no.'_ Stacie thinks to herself, grinning, she may very well walk into Beca getting it on.  
Stacie hovers at the door, starting to think it was a bad idea to open it. However, Aubrey had other ideas. She opens the door and barges in. Aubrey gasps loudly as she walks into the unfolding scene.  
"Chloooooeeee!" Beca moans.  
"Beca, hold still!" Chloe says, not noticing they had guests.  
"What are you's two doing?!" Aubrey screams.  
Beca and Chloe jump and look up. Beca was laying face down on the bed in nothing but a pair of underwear and Chloe was straddling her upper back, with her hands covered in oil and placed on Beca's lower back.  
"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" Chloe asks, not thinking about how odd this position looked.  
"What is happening here?" Stacie grins, smugly.  
"Oh!" Chloe looks down, "Beca hurt her back and I'm just giving her a massage."

Aubrey wasn't sure she believed Chloe, given that she was sitting on top of Beca. Stacie just couldn't stop grinning, making a mental note to high five Beca later.  
"Why are you sitting on top of her?" Aubrey frowns, pursing her lips, "I don't think that's standard practice."  
"Beca wouldn't sit still, so I had to restrain her." Chloe smiles, turning her attention back to Beca's lower back.  
"Because it hurts." Beca bucks, wincing at the pain.  
"Well, of course it hurts!" Chloe snaps, "Your back is riddled with knots, how you actually function is beyond me."  
Beca groans as Chloe pushes her palm into Beca's back and moves it in a circular motion.  
"She survives on coffee and sarcasm." Stacie jokes, making Chloe laugh, but making Beca give her the finger.  
"Now, now, don't lash out because you're in pain." Stacie smirks, only getting another groan in response, "I tell you all the time to not pack so much in your camera bag."

Chloe nods in agreeance, as she continues to knead Beca's back.  
"Beca, I'm going to have to massage you once a week for the next few weeks, at least, to fix this." Chloe says, seriously.  
The thought of that almost makes Beca pass out, she's barely getting through this massage, she's not sure how she would handle a massage once a week. Stacie has to hold back her laughter, knowing Beca would be spiralling right now.  
"Did you hear that Beca? Chloe's going to fix your back. And massage once a week, aren't you lucky?" Stacie sniggers, earning a groan from Beca, "Oh Aubrey, lets go to my room. I'll show you that experiment I told you about."  
Stacie winks at Aubrey, making her blush, she nods feeling giddy all over again. Stacie holds out her hand and she takes it, letting out a girlish giggle. Chloe watches the two leave the room, looking a little confused, especially when Beca starts to laugh.  
"They're going to make out." Beca says, muffled by the bed.  
"What!" Chloe whispers shocked, "How do you know?"  
"Stacie doesn't have an experiments in her room." Beca sniggers.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, even though I try to proof read these as carefully as I can, it seems that once I saved the document into the website, it took away the company name I had Beca working for. I'm not sure why, but I have fixed that, sorry for any confusion. Anyway, writing is going really well, but I still have a long way to go. I hope you enjoy the next chapter and please remember, there's always a reason why I write something or write someone a certain way. :) Enjoy!**

* * *

It was about midnight and Beca couldn't sleep. Her back was sore from Chloe working on her knots. She thought massages were suppose to make you feel better, not worse. Chloe assured her with a few weeks of treatment, she should start feeling better than she's ever felt. But in the mean time, she was in the kitchen heating a wheat bag in the microwave. Beca yawns as she opens the fridge, picking at things in the on the top shelf. The microwave beeps, signally her wheat pack was heated. She retrieves it and walks towards the hall, only to run straight into someone. Beca shouts, so does the persons she ran into. The shout doesn't sound familiar. Beca turns on a light and sees Aubrey.  
"Jesus Christ!" Beca breathes, "I thought you left hours ago."  
"I..I didn't know anyone would be up." Aubrey says, embarrassed.  
"Yeah well, I'm the insomniac in house full comatose individuals." Beca grumbles, placing the wheat pack on her back.  
"Right, Chloe can sleep through thunder storms and tornados." Aubrey nods, understanding.

Beca takes a good look at Aubrey, her hair was ruffled and her clothes looked like they had been put on in a hurry.  
"You're not leaving, are you?" Beca questions.  
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes." Aubrey bites, Beca holds a hand up in defeat.  
"I get it, you hate me. But seriously, it's the middle of the night and it's not safe for people to walk in the city by themselves at night." Beca warns, even though she's not sure why she's trying to help her.  
"Chloe says you do it all the time." Aubrey glares, suspiciously.  
"Yeah, that's me though. I've lived here my whole life." Beca reasons, adjusting the wheat pack.

As much as Aubrey wanted to stay, she didn't want to deal with Chloe in the morning, given how much grief she gave her about liking Beca and nothing's even happened between them yet. But she was a little apprehensive about walking back to her hotel this late at night, but being the independent woman she is, she wasn't about to show it.  
"I am a grown woman, I think I can walk myself five blocks." Aubrey says, rolling her eyes.  
"I'm sure you can, but you don't look like a New Yorker. It could get you in trouble." Beca warns, knowing the city wasn't always the safest.  
"Why do you even care?" Aubrey sneers, determined to hate Beca.  
"Because two people I care deeply for, seem to feel the same way about you. But by all means, go.. go get mugged." Beca says, walking towards her her room.  
Aubrey glares at Beca as she walks away, she huffs and stamps her foot.  
"Wait!"

Beca turns to look at her hard gaze. It was clear Aubrey was having trouble with her decision.  
"What do you suggest I do than?" Aubrey asks, reluctantly.  
"Well, you could stay." Beca suggests.  
"I don't think that's best." Aubrey blushes, turning her head.  
Beca was getting the feeling that Aubrey still felt uncomfortable with liking Stacie. Beca got it, it's not easy admitting you like a woman, when your whole life you were told you had to like men. Luisa was the one who shook up Beca's life and now Chloe was doing the same. While she had come to terms with her sexuality, it was clear Aubrey was still struggling. Beca had feeling she was going to regret what she was going to do next.  
"Fine, I'll walk you back." Beca says, walking back to the kitchen to put her wheat pack down.  
"I think I'd rather take my chances with the mugger." Aubrey says, bitchily.

"Wow! You're just an A grade arsehole, aren't you?" Beca shakes her head, grabbing her coat and throwing Aubrey's coats at her.  
The coat hits her square in the face, she glares at Beca.  
"Well, hurry up! I don't have all night!" Beca snaps, as she reefs open the door.  
Aubrey follows reluctantly, knowing it was her best option.

…

The two women walk in stoney silence down one of the many numbered streets in New York City. Beca was already regretting her offer, but she knew if she'd let her go by herself, neither Stacie nor Chloe would forgive her. Beca scolds herself for being a good friend.  
"You know, I'm not as big an arsehole as you think I am." Aubrey mumbles.  
"So, what? I just bring out your arsehole qualities?" Beca raises an eyebrow.  
"I don't know what it is, I just don't like you." Aubrey admits.  
"Hm! And it's got nothing to do with that fact that I'm getting really close with Chloe?" Beca asks, giving her a side glance.  
Aubrey sighs, it had a lot to do with it.  
"It's not easy when your best friend's moves away and makes other friends." Aubrey grumbles, hating the fact that Beca could read her easily.

"Chloe's not replacing you, you know. She talks about you constantly, and she misses you like crazy." Beca says, earnestly.  
Aubrey starts to feel guilty, she had been behaving poorly because she was jealous. She didn't want Chloe to be best friends with anyone else. But she also wanted what was best for Chloe and she still wasn't sold on Beca.  
"I also don't want to see her heart get broken." Aubrey crosses her arms.  
"And you think I would intentionally do that?" Beca asks, accusingly.  
"I don't know... I don't know you." Aubrey says, annoyed.  
"Exactly, you don't know me! But that didn't stop you coming in guns blazing telling Chloe how bad I am." Beca stops, frowning up at Aubrey.  
"I want what's best for her, a stable healthy relationship." Aubrey stares down, "You want to go off and travel the world, what's going to happen then?"

Beca had been thinking about that a lot lately. It was a big reason why she had been holding off on making a move, it wasn't just her natural awkwardness. What happens if she gets promoted and starts getting assignments that take her overseas? She could be gone for weeks, if not months at a time.  
"Don't you think I haven't thought about that?" Beca says, loudly, "I didn't expect in a million years that the beautiful redhead I took a picture of two years ago would come bouncing into my life and turn it upside down. It's going to make all of my future life choices really fucking hard from now on, because I don't want to see people I care about hurt."  
Aubrey looks at Beca, she could see how confused Beca was about her life. It was clear she really cared for Chloe, but wasn't sure if love was enough to put her career behind. Beca starts walking again, Aubrey starts to follow.  
"You really care for her, don't you?" Aubrey asks, catching to walk beside her.

"Do you care for Stacie?" Beca looks at her, answering her question with a question.  
Aubrey blushes, not expecting that question.  
"I..I don't know." She mumbles, looking down at the ground.  
"I get you want to protect Chloe, but I want to protect Stacie just as much." Beca says, making Aubrey look back up.  
"Really? She doesn't seem like the type to need protecting." Aubrey comments, as they continue to walk down the street.  
"Most of the time she doesn't. But Stacie plays hard, works hard and loves even harder. But I've had to pick up her pieces more times than I can remember." Beca says, looking straight a head, "I haven't seen her this taken with anyone in quite a few years."  
Aubrey walks silently, not really sure what to say. She really didn't know Stacie that well, but she was really starting to like her. Beca had every right to be grilling her as much as she grilled Beca.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I think you and I are a lot a like." Aubrey says, sounding like it hurt just to say it.  
"How so?" Beca snaps, not wanting to be compared with Aubrey.  
"We're both cautious when it comes to life and love, and we want to protect our friends with every ounce of our being." Aubrey explains.  
Beca frowns, it did sound like her. She once beat up a guy in a bar because he didn't take Stacie's 'no' for an answer and tried to assault her. Beca would always protect Stacie, just like she would always protect Beca.  
"I suppose." Beca grumbles, as they continue to walk through the streets.  
"Maybe that's why we don't get on." Aubrey says, thoughtfully.  
"No, I've never had a problem with you until you got here and demanded Chloe move back to Atlanta so she wasn't hypnotised by my magical vagina." Beca argues, emphasising her last two words.  
"Ok, first of all, I never said those words, Chloe has vastly exaggerated that conversation." Aubrey points out, "But, yeah I guess I never gave you a chance."

Aubrey spots her hotel up a head. She made it back with no harm done to her. It was very nice of Beca to walk her back. She really came to New York with the wrong attitude. Try as she may, she was coming up with less and less excuses to hate Beca. She wasn't exactly Aubrey's first choice as someone she'd pick as a friend, yet she wasn't as terrible as she thought she was going to be.  
"So, what are you going to do about Chloe?" Aubrey asks, wondering if Beca would ask her out despite that her job could eventually move her far away.  
Beca sighs, "Listen, I really, really like Chloe. It's taken me a lot to admit that, I really didn't see myself falling for someone right now. And I don't want to miss out on something amazing. But my job is really important too."  
"I guess we both have a lot of decisions to make." Aubrey says, stoping in front of her hotel, thinking about her decisions about her own future.  
"I guess so." Beca nods, still wondering what she was going to do.

Aubrey hovers awkwardly, not sure if she should thank Beca or just go inside.  
"So, do we just go back to fighting or are we friends now?" Aubrey asks, forcing herself to sound humorous.  
Beca looks at her surprised, "Well, we weren't ever fighting because it was just coming from you."  
Aubrey sighs heavily, Beca really had a point. Nearly all their interactions have been mostly pleasant on her end. Aubrey was the one who's been rude.  
"But it also doesn't make us friends." Beca says, "However, you are going to have to learn how to get along with me."  
"Excuse me?" Aubrey asks, a little amused.  
"Stacie likes you, but I'm her best friend. Chloe likes me and you're her best friend. At some point, you're going to have to learn to be nice me." Beca smirks, at Aubrey's glare, "Seeing as I have been nothing but nice to you, you have a lot of catching up to do."  
Aubrey raises an eyebrow at the sassy brunette, wondering if it was even worth arguing with her on this one.  
Beca turns and starts walking away, "Goodnight Aubrey." Looking back over her shoulder to see the blonde watching her walk away, "Oh and you're welcome."

…

Stacie mopes around the apartment, looking miserable. She sighs loudly to herself, as she goes about her way. Looking in the fridge, sighing again loudly, then shutting the door. Looking in the pantry, sighing, then shutting the door. Beca looks at her with a sideways glance, Stacie had been like this for a few days now. Beca had a pretty good idea what it was about, but every time she asked, she was told there was nothing wrong. The whole thing was starting to amuse Beca. She hadn't seen Stacie in this kind of a state since high school.  
"Everything alright in there?" Beca asks, looking up from her laptop.  
Stacie looks over to the couch where her tiny roommate was sitting.  
"I'm perfectly fine." She says, sadly.  
Beca smirks, "Are you sure? Did the fridge run out of food again?"  
It was their running joke that Beca didn't know how the food got in their fridge. One day it'll be empty and the next it's full.  
"No, it has food." Stacie sighs, plopping herself down next to Beca.

That wasn't her normal response to the question, it normally resulted in a sassy comment about Beca's inability to eat regularly or do normal day to day tasks. Beca frowns, the state Stacie was way worse than high school. Stacie never missed an opportunity to roast Beca, no matter how down she was.  
"Stace, you've been miserable for four days." Beca comments her observations.  
"No, I haven't." Stacie grumbles, crossing her arms.  
Beca snorts, "Yeah, alright." Deciding to let it go, because she knew Stacie would break eventually.

Beca goes back to editing. After almost ten years, she knew not to push it. Stacie would tell her when she was ready. But Beca had a very huge feeling it had something to do with a tall, obnoxious blonde that went home to Atlanta. It had been such a long time since she had seen Stacie get this attached to a person. Personally, Beca didn't see Aubrey's appeal, but if she's got Stacie in such a state, there had to be something special about her. Beca glances over and watches her friend for a moment, Beca can literally see the sadness projecting out of her.

The front door opens, and a bubbly redhead enters.  
"Hey guys!" She smiles, hanging up her stuff.  
"Hey Chloe." Beca looks up and smiles, feeling her familiar butterflies.  
"Hey." Stacie responds sadly.  
Chloe furrows her burrows at her usually upbeat roommate. She looks to Beca for an answer, Beca just shakes her head smiling.  
"What's up, Stace? You look more sullen than Beca." Chloe asks, coming to sit down.  
"Hey!" Beca frowns, since when was it insult Beca hour.  
"Shush!" Chloe says to Beca, turning her attention back to Stacie, "What's going on, Stacie?"  
"Nothing." Stacie replies, looking off into the distance.

Chloe raises her eyebrows in surprise and amusement. She didn't think anyone could be more dramatic than Beca, but she was finding her new friends were still full of surprises. She looks back to Beca, who seemed equally amused.  
"Have you spoken to Aubrey today, Stacie?" Chloe asks Stacie.  
"No." She sighs, but looks to Chloe, "Have you?"  
"Not today." She shakes her head, "If you miss her, Stace, go call her."  
Stacie's expression changes, "Pfft! I don't miss her! What makes you think I miss her?"  
"Your sulking attitude." Beca answers, not looking up from her laptop.  
"Dramatic sighing." Chloe continues, listing things as well.  
"Your need for attention, but not explaining what's wrong." Beca smirks.  
"Staring off into the distance like you're in a music video." Chloe says, making Beca laugh.  
"Yeah ok!" Stacie stands up, extraordinarily annoyed, "It's like living with a old married couple. Fuck!"

Stacie walks away, muttering inaudible insults about her friends.  
"Hey! Where are you going? I had at least ten more things." Beca yells after her, making Stacie flip her off, "You're bursts of aggression aren't appreciated in this apartment, Conrad!"  
Chloe laughs at the friends, she moves over to take Stacie's place next to Beca.  
"Old married couple, hey?" Chloe places her arm around Beca's shoulders.  
Beca stiffens and blushes, making Chloe grin.  
"She's joking." Beca clears her throat, before speaking.  
Chloe leans in close to Beca's ear, "But imagine if she wasn't."  
"Oh my god!" Beca looks up, whispering, "Are you trying to kill me?"  
"Well, not kill." Chloe grins, "But I do have a few other things in mind."  
' _Oh Jesus! What is she doing to me?_ ' Beca tries to not let her mind wander.

Chloe could only wonder what she was thinking. She liked Beca so much and she was definitely not used to waiting this long for someone. Chloe knew Beca was special and she wanted something more than just being friends with her. She just needed to get Beca to jump, to take the leap with her, but she needed to figure out what was holding Beca back.  
"So Becs, when are we going to do this?" Chloe says, deciding to take the direct approach.

The question really catches Beca off guard, they had be flirting and skirting around each for a few months. But Beca still hadn't decided if she was wanting to go further into her career or halt it for love. She really liked Chloe, more than she's ever liked someone before. It wasn't that she didn't think Chloe was worth it, Chloe was the most amazing person she'd ever met. Beca had been wondering if she, herself was worth it. What if they did start dating? What if it was amazing? Would that be enough for Chloe to wait around for her if she gets promoted?

Chloe notices her the wheels spinning out if control in Beca's mind. Maybe the direct approach was too much. She could see it wasn't because Beca didn't like her, it was plainly obvious that she had feelings for Chloe. So what was it that was holding her back? It can't just be a fear of a broken heart.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to just throw it out there, but like, I'm starting to get the feeling you're holding off for some reason." Chloe asks, frowning.  
Beca sighs, "I am."  
Chloe's face falls, she couldn't help but feel maybe she had done something wrong.  
"Am I too forward? I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable, Becs!" Chloe cries, making Beca quickly put down her laptop.  
"No, no, no! You haven't done anything, I swear. This is all on me." Beca stresses, needing to make sure that Chloe knew it had nothing to do with her.

Chloe looks at Beca's stressed face, believing her when she said it had nothing to do with her and she had done nothing wrong.  
"Then what's the problem?" Chloe asks, sadly.  
"It's my job." Beca answers, "I'm only contracted for a year and if I do well, I'm going to be given a position for bigger jobs. Jobs that will take me around the country and even overseas."  
Chloe listens to Beca's concerns, but can't quite help feeling she had heard this from someone else.  
"If we start dating and I get promoted or start taking bigger jobs…" Beca sighs, sadly, "I'm just not sure I'm worth waiting for."  
Chloe looks at Beca's sad face, Chloe's heart breaks a little. But again, it all sounded familiar.  
"Did you talk to Aubrey?" Chloe frowns.  
"I..I..well yeah.. but.." Beca stammers out, wondering if Aubrey had had a similar conversation with Chloe, that she had had with her.  
Chloe sighs, annoyed, "God! I knew she'd get to you!"

"No, it's not Aubrey's fault. I was already thinking about it before we had a fight." Beca assures her, but realises she never mentioned that her and Aubrey had a fight to Chloe.  
"You guys had a fight?" Chloe asks, startled, "When?"  
Beca sighs, "I'm sorry, I wasn't that big of a deal. I caught her sneaking out the second night she was here. And despite her unnecessary hatred towards me, I wasn't about to let her walk back to her hotel alone."  
Chloe looks at Beca lovingly, even when she had every reason not to be nice to Aubrey, she did it anyway. Chloe could only imagine the amount of grumbling she did inside her head as she walked Aubrey back.  
"We got into it when she started questioning my feelings for you and what would happen if I got promoted, she thought it was unfair of me to leave you behind." Beca continues, Chloe goes to counter, "Wait.. Chlo, she's not wrong. I've been thinking about this for a while.

Chloe frowns, Beca and Aubrey had been put in their thoughts and opinions (Aubrey mostly), but no one had asked Chloe what she wanted or what she thought on the situation.  
"Well, what about what I want?" Chloe demands.  
Beca looks at Chloe in surprise, it's not that she had considered Chloe's feelings, she just thought it would be better to not have started something the will most likely end in some kind of heartbreak.  
"Chloe, what happens if in seven or eight months' time I have to move to another city or I start going overseas for assignments?" Beca asks, couldn't help but think this was a very serious conversation to have with someone she wasn't dating.  
"Becs, that's ages away!" Chloe reaches out and grabs her, pulling her in for a hug, feeling the conversation was far too serious when they weren't dating yet, "We can figure it out then."

Her touch was incredibly comforting to Beca. She rarely sort after human contact, but with Chloe, she seemed to crave it. It was something she had never experienced before.  
"And for the record, I think you are worth waiting for." Chloe whispers, pulling her in tighter.  
Her words touched Beca, nobody but her mum and Stacie had really gone out of the way to care for Beca. Beca was so sure that Chloe wouldn't wait for her, because Beca thought she wasn't worth it. The more time she spent with Chloe, the more she begins to realise there was definitely something Chloe saw in her that she didn't know was there. Beca pulls back and stares into her amazingly beautiful blue eyes, they are beyond sincere and looking at her lovingly. Beca gets swept up in the moment, she moves forward and captures Chloe's lips. The sudden contact surprises Chloe, her eyes widen in surprise and she freezes for a moment, before letting her eyes flutter closed and completely melting into the kiss. Chloe is surrounded by the smell of vanilla, as she reaches up and cups Beca's face, pulling her closer, needing her to be a close as she could have her. Beca's lips wear so soft and her skin was so smooth. Why on earth woman kissed men in the first place, Chloe would never know. Chloe knew she was now addicted to this pleasure and she was never going back. The two women find their rhythm as they start to move in sync, there was so much build up to this kiss, and both woman could feel the sparks of electricity between them.

"Oh, just fucking great!" Stacie shouts, as she enters the room to see her best friend's making out on the couch.  
The two woman pull apart in surprise as the see a disgruntled Stacie glaring at them.  
"You've been 'will they or won't they?' for months now! And the day I'm feeling terrible about my love life, you's two decide it's a great time play tonsil hockey on the couch." She yells, putting her hands on her hips.  
"I thought you said there was nothing wrong." Beca smirks, knowing Stacie would either explode or storm off in huff.  
Stacie's eye twitches, "OF COURSE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!"  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Chloe asks, sincerely.  
"NO!" Stacie shouts, storming off back down the hall, but returning a 15 seconds later, because she remembered the reason she come out in the first place.  
"I hope you two are happy! You made me forget what I was doing out here in the first place, with your stupid display of love." She growls, as she reefs open the fridge door and grabs a block of chocolate, before stomping back into the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks again for the great response. I'd say we're close to being halfway through the story, so I hope you guys are still with me. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chloe floats around her room happily, as the thought of Beca dances in her mind. Despite all of Beca's worries, she had kissed her. She kissed Chloe. She had no idea what their future had in store for them, but she was excited to see where it went. She hums to herself while cleaning up her room, she suddenly spies Stacie walking past. She was dragging her feet and looking even more glum than she did the day before. Chloe feels guilty to be so happy when her friend was so sad. Who would have thought her uptight bestie could have this kind of effect on someone? Especially Stacie. Chloe would have never have thought Stacie would have fallen like this for anyone, let alone Aubrey.

Chloe picks up her phone and dials Aubrey's number. She had to straighten this out, Stacie was so sad. Chloe hated see her like this when she and Beca were so happy.  
" _Hey Chloe_ " Aubrey answers, cheerfully.  
"Hey Bree, how's your day?" Chloe asks, tucking the phone between her ear and neck as she picks up so clothes off her floor.  
" _Fine, just studying._ " She says, sounding even more cheerful, making Chloe suspicious.  
"Uh-huh." Chloe frowns, "Sounds super fun."  
Chloe could tell something was off with her friend, but she decides not to mention it. It was a vast improvement from the last time they spoke. Stacie wasn't the only one who had been acting miserable. Aubrey had been in the same funk, Chloe kept telling her she missed Stacie to only be met with a groan and, what Chloe could only speculate, an eye roll.

" _How's your day?_ " The cheerful voice continues down the phone.  
"Yeah, it's good. I had a client this morning and I think we're all going to go out for dinner tonight. Beca found this cool little Italian restaurant, she's so great at finding amazing places." Chloe sighs, smiling happily.  
The phone line goes quiet. Chloe frowns, she looks at her phone to see if she's still connected. Aubrey was still there.  
"Hello?" Chloe asks.  
" _You kissed the hobbit, didn't you?_ " Aubrey asks, after a moment.  
Chloe looks stunned, "Where on earth did you get that? All I said was we were going out for dinner."  
" _It was the way you said her name._ " Aubrey says, her cheerful voice gone, and her bitter bite returning.  
"Ugh! Aubrey stop! What happens between Beca and I, is my business." Chloe rolled her eyes.

The phone line goes quiet again. Chloe couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly Aubrey guessed that she and Beca kissed. Even over the phone Aubrey could always pick up on things.  
"Besides, I didn't call to talk about my love life, I called to talk about yours." Chloe changes the subject, knowing this one was going to be an uncomfortable conversation.  
" _What about my love life?_ " She snaps.  
"Have you spoken to Stacie?" Chloe asks, not put off by Aubrey's tone.  
There's a small pause before Aubrey snaps again, " _Of course I haven't! Why would I? She's your friend._ "  
Chloe is genuinely shocked by her friend's attitude. Aubrey had obviously shown a great deal of interest in Stacie and seemed sad about having to leave New York, but now she has left it seems that she couldn't care less.

"You've got to be kidding me, Aubrey! For last few days you've been utterly miserable." Chloe frowns.  
" _No, I haven't!_ " Aubrey grumbles, " _How would you even know? It's not like you're here!_ "  
"Jesus Christ, Aubrey! Not this again! We're talking about you, not how I supposedly abandoned you." Chloe rolls her eyes.  
" _You did abandon me._ " Aubrey mutters.  
"Aubrey, I know you like Stacie. So, what's the problem?" Chloe demands, wanting to stop Aubrey from changing the subject.  
" _I don't know what you're talking about, Chloe. Sure, I think she's nice, but I don't really know her that well._ " Aubrey says, dancing around the subject.  
"Really? You haven't got a clue what I'm talking about? Care to tell me what experiment Stacie was showing you in her room?" Chloe asks, knowing this would stump her.

The silence coming through the phone makes Chloe smirk, she knew the question would throw Aubrey off guard. She listens to the silence down the phone, she could tell Aubrey was desperately trying to think of something.  
" _I..I don't know… it had something to do with electricity or.. plants.._ " Aubrey falls over her words, " _I'm not a scientist!_ "  
Chloe snorts, "Nice try, loser! Stacie doesn't have experiments in her room. Besides, you're not exactly quiet, Bree."  
Aubrey lets out a squawk of protest, Chloe stops her.  
"Don't even bother trying to come up with an excuse, Bree. Beca and I both heard you's two. So, don't bother telling me you don't like her, coz I know you're full of shit." Chloe snaps back.

Aubrey stays silent, Chloe could tell she was struggling to make a counter argument. Chloe could only imagine that Aubrey was having trouble admitting she really liked Stacie. Being with a female was definitely not in Aubrey's 10 year plan.  
"It's ok, you know. Being gay or bi or even just having feelings for a woman. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Chloe says softly.  
" _But.. it is. What would my father think of me?"_ Aubrey says, shamefully.  
Chloe's face falls, this is what this is about. Aubrey's dad was the biggest hardarse she had ever met. Nothing Aubrey did was good enough, no matter how hard she worked. And from what Chloe could remember, her dad was homophobic.  
"Bree.. I know you try so hard to get your dad's approval. But at what point are you going to decide to do something in your life for you and not for him?" Chloe asks, seriously.

All Chloe hears is a sniffle, so she continues.  
"You're going to have to decide, do you make yourself happy and let him be disappointed or do you continue doing what he wants and for him to still be disappointed because you didn't do it better." Chloe says, knowing this would be hard for her friend to hear, "At some point, you're going to get tired of searching for approval and by then it could be too late."  
The two friends fall silent, Chloe still hearing Aubrey's sniffles. She could tell Aubrey was taking her words seriously.  
"Stacie is just as miserable, Bree. She really likes you, Beca said she's never seen her like this before." Chloe says, softly, "Would you being happy instead of your dad be the worst thing in the world?"

…

The three women enter their apartment later that night, all full from a wonderful meal. But that's as far as the wonderfulness went. Beca watches Stacie silently hang up her stuff and head to her room.  
"Boy, I haven't attended a more awkward dinner since I went to thanksgiving at my dad's place and met his new wife." Beca mumbles, out of Stacie's earshot.  
Chloe nodded, couldn't help but agree. Stacie had fully taken over the role of little cloud of moodiness. She sat in silence the whole night, only speaking when she was spoken to. Beca hadn't ever seen her like this.  
"I just never thought that this could happen to Stacie. I thought you said she never falls like this and that she doesn't do relationships?" Chloe asks, feeling helpless.  
"She doesn't, well at least she hasn't since our final year of high school." Beca scratches her head, "She was in love with this guy from the football team. You know, the drill, popular girl and the quarterback."

Chloe listens intently as they go and sit on the couch. Beca sighs as she remembers how badly this guy hurt Stacie.  
"They were always on again, off again. Some days he loved how assertive Stacie was and other days he just put her down for it." Beca explains, "On those days, he would do anything to ruin her confidence."  
Chloe frowns, feeling terrible. ' _What a jerk!_ ' She thinks angrily.  
"But what made me so angry, was that he hated that she was so smart." Beca clenches her fist, "He always maintained that women were only good for the kitchen, nothing more. Stacie's assertiveness was nothing more than a challenge, to see if he could break her down and rein her in."  
"Are you serious?" Chloe gasps, angrily.  
"Yeah, for a little while, I thought he might have done it. He hated me, whenever Stacie hung out with me, she seem to wake up again and become her old self. That would usually result in a fight and they would break up." Beca continues, still bitter about those days.

Beca looks in the direction of Stacie's room, remembering all the days she'd have to pick up Stacie's pieces because of this guy. She never wanted to see her friend in this kind of a state again. But now she was just so sad, she obviously sees something really special in Aubrey.  
"I think back then, she thought she'd marry him and that she could change him. But she came to realise she couldn't and she was better off." Beca says, "I think she realised when he destroyed her science project for the science fair."  
"What!" Chloe gasps, covering her mouth.  
"Yeah, he told her, no woman had any business learning science and threw her experiment out the apartment window." Beca explains making Chloe's face distort in disgust, "Fun fact, that was the first time I got arrested."  
"What the hell did you do?" Chloe's eyes widen in shock.  
Beca blinked at her, "Well… nothing that was _that_ bad. Honestly, he made it out to be way worse than it actually was. I still can't believe he made Stacie call him an ambulance." Beca rolls her eyes.  
"You beat him up?" Chloe shouts.  
"Ahh… sure lets go with that." Beca says, awkwardly, remembering the chair she broke over his back that night.

"Anyway, that was Stacie's turning point. She never wanted to see him again after that. How she's still so open to love, I'll never know, but she never really wanted to settle down since then." Beca explains, scratching her head once more, "I just don't know what to do, I've never seen her hung up on someone like this before."  
Chloe looks towards Stacie's room, her face falls sadly.  
"I spoke with Aubrey today." Chloe mentions.  
"Really?" Beca asks, surprised, "What did she say? What happened between them?"  
"I don't know exactly. But I think it has something to do with Aubrey not wanting to disappoint her father." Chloe turns back to Beca.  
"What do you mean?" Beca frowns.  
"Mr Posen is a very rich and powerful lawyer and is a bit of a homophobe. And to be honest, Aubrey was supposed to be a boy." Chloe sighs, sadly, "So, even though she does everything to make him happy, it's not enough."

Beca could sympathise, her dad always rides her about her life, but she always did her own thing. She didn't care whether she had his approval anymore, it came to a point where it was her happiness or his and Beca realised that hers was more important.  
' _I guess Aubrey hasn't figured that out yet._ ' Beca muses.  
"I also get the feeling Aubrey is a little jealous of me, and I guess us." Chloe frowns.  
"Why?" Beca asks, bewildered.  
"Well, we don't exactly have to worry about our sexuality and how it'll affect our families." Chloe says, seriously, "Her dad… He would be furious at her."  
"You don't think Aubrey said all this to Stacie, do you?" Beca asks, concerned.  
Chloe's eyes widen, "Oh god! That would explain why Stacie's so sad. She wasn't good enough back then, and now she's still not enough."  
Beca's face falls, "God! Poor Stacie! Maybe I should try talking to her again."  
Chloe nods, "That might be a good idea."

Beca stands up and wanders down the hall towards Stacie's room. She knocks gently, but Stacie didn't answer. She gingerly opens the door and pokes her head in. The room is dark, and she sees the outline of Stacie curled up on her bed.  
"What?" Comes a muffled voice.  
Beca walks over to the bed and sits down beside Stacie. She sits there for a moment, waiting to see if Stacie would talk first. When she doesn't, Beca takes a deep breath.  
"I don't like seeing you like this." Beca says, quietly.  
Stacie sniffs a little, not saying anything. After a moment she rolls over and puts her head on Beca's lap.  
"I don't like feeling like this." She mumbles, "Not again."

Beca's heart breaks, this must have something to do with Aubrey not willing to give into her feelings for the sake of her father. She gently strokes Stacie's hair, knowing it always comforted Stacie when she was upset.  
"I think you're amazing, Stacie. You're the smartest person I know and you're going to change the world one day." Beca says, soothingly, "And if that's not enough for her, well than she's fucking bat shit crazy."  
Stacie lets out a watery chuckle, "Thanks Bec."  
"Did she tell you why things couldn't work?" Beca asks, tentatively.  
Stacie stares at the wall, staying quiet. She had never liked anyone the way she likes Aubrey, but it wasn't enough for Aubrey. She wasn't enough.  
"I'm not a part of her 10 year plan." Stacie mutters, bitterly, "Or should I say, her dad's plan."  
Beca internally winces, Chloe was right.

They stay silent for a few minutes, Beca continues stroking Stacie's hair in a comforting manner. Beca couldn't help but wonder what it was about Aubrey that made Stacie like her so much.  
"You haven't liked someone this much for a long time." Beca comments, after a while.  
"I know." Stacie responds, sullenly.  
"What makes Aubrey so special, Stace?" Beca asks, kindly, genuinely interested.  
Stacie ponders that questions for a moment, she had no reason to like Aubrey as much as she did. She had really only known her for about a week. But it didn't take long to know that Aubrey made her feel special.  
"You know how you look at Chloe when she does something thoughtful or when she sings or even when she smiles?" Stacie asks, Beca nods, "That's what Aubrey does with me, she looks at me like I'm the smartest person in the world. She's interested in what I'm working on and encouraged me to get better."

Beca finally understands, Aubrey made Stacie feel special and wanted. Something she wasn't really used too. Even though she dates a lot, these people only seem to be interested in the physical side, not really in her as a person. Beca can't help but wonder when it changed, they were spending a lot of time together the week she was here.  
"When did that change?" Beca asks, wondering when she would hit Stacie's emotional wall, and she would no longer open up.  
Stacie doesn't answer right away, she closes her eyes and let's herself get lost in the sensation of Beca stroking her hair. After a little while she answers.  
"On the last day she was here. I asked her if I could come visit or if she would like to come back here." Stacie says, Beca can hear hints of bitterness, "She said it wouldn't be best."

Beca listens quietly, hoping her friend would feel better once she had gotten all of this off her chest. Stacie takes a deep breath and continues.  
"I asked her why, she said as great as I was, I simply wouldn't fit into her life." Stacie says, sadly, "She said all this right after she had a call from her dad."  
"Chloe said he's a bit of a homophobe." Beca mentions.  
"Figures." Stacie mutters, bitterly.  
"Aubrey is just looking for her dad's approval, I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you, Stace." Beca says, not believing she was sticking up for the blonde nightmare.  
"Doesn't make it hurt any less." Stacie sniffs, "I thought… maybe I could give it another chance… you know…real love. She seemed pretty great."

If Beca's heart wasn't broken enough before, it was just completely smashed to bits now, every part of her just felt for Stacie. Beca had the right mind to jump on a plane to Atlanta and give Aubrey and her dad a piece of her mind. But she knew that wouldn't go over well. Instead, she just continued to comfort her friend in the best way she could. She hadn't ever seen Stacie fall this hard, this fast for anyone, and to see her like this was hard for Beca.  
"If it makes you feel any better, Chloe said Aubrey's pretty miserable too. I get the feeling she may start regretting how things ended between you two." Beca says, after a little while.  
"Ended? It never even got to begin." Stacie scoffs, "She was too scared to even try. Why did I even bother trying to put myself out like that again? I'm better off just tinder dating for the rest of my life. Trying to find something meaningful is just pointless."  
"Stop it!" Beca scolds, Stacie looks up, "Stacie, you put yourself out there again and not just for a hook up and that's amazing, so don't go beating yourself up for it. I know you still want to find someone one day, and don't try convincing me otherwise, because I won't believe you."

Stacie stays quiet as she looks up at her best friend, Beca looks rather upset. She was upset because Stacie felt that she wasn't good enough for anything other than sex and that just wasn't true.  
"I don't know if you're meant to be with Aubrey, maybe she was just the stepping stone for you to properly get back out there again. You deserve to have all the happiness in the world and you're going to find it." Beca says, "You're one of the most amazing, smartest, most interesting people I know, and if Aubrey can't see how fucking lucky she would be to be with you, well she doesn't deserve you."  
"Beca.." Stacie says, feeling very touched at her friend's passionate speech.  
"I just..don't ever want to see you like this… not again." Beca's voice breaks a little, as Stacie sits up a little and hugs her.

They stay like that for a moment, Stacie realising she shouldn't be so sad. Not when she has amazing friends like Beca. They were always going to pick her up when she was down and remind her of all the good things in her life. She couldn't be more grateful to have them, she couldn't be happier to have Beca.  
"You know, for a socially awkward hobbit, you always know the right things to say to make me feel better." Stacie smiles, with a backhanded compliment.  
Beca smiles, there she was, her best friend was back or at least on her way back to being herself again.  
"We can never just have a nice moment. Always with the short jokes." Beca shakes her head, though very happy to see her smiling again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, posting a little early this week. Just wanted to address a small thing. I've had a couple of comments over the past few months about the layout of my stories. I'm sorry, but they're are staying the way they are. It's the way I write and if you guys can handle a book (which I am sure all of you can) you can handle one of my stories that have a very similar layout. I'm sorry if I'm coming off sounding like a bitch, but I just wanted to clear it up. I hope you enjoy the next chapter, I had fun writing it.**

* * *

 **3 weeks later**

"Beca?" Beca turns and sees her boss Dean Walker standing behind her.  
Beca was sitting at her desk in the open plan office setting on the 34th floor. Dean had a very big smile on his face.  
"Hey Dean, what's up?" Beca asks, slightly turning back to her computer.  
"I wanted to talk to you about your article on Serendipity's 3 you did a few weeks ago." He starts, leaning on her desk.  
"Yeah, I liked that one, what about it?" Beca looks back at Dean.  
"It has over 2 million views." He exclaims, excitedly.  
"Shut up!" Beca's eyes grow wide.

Up to this point, Beca had been only gathering 700,000 to 800,000 views per article. Which wasn't anything to sneeze at, but Beca hadn't never thought she could pull that much traffic.  
"I'm serious! Views have been steadily increasing, not just on the blog, but on our website too." His smile couldn't get much bigger, "Our booking agents have also said they've had a spike in bookings for New York. Shareholders and the board are beyond thrilled."  
"That's amazing!" Beca whispers, in shock.  
"Whatever you're doing, Beca, keep it up." Dean claps his hand on her shoulder.  
"Wow, thanks Dean!" Beca smiles, feeling proud.  
"And that's not all the news though." He says, "Because this one has been such a success, they're thinking of starting a Europe Blog. Someone will be stationed in London and will do articles of all the different countries and cultures."  
"Oh, that's sounds awesome. That would be a big job." Beca's eyes widen again.

"Oh, it'll be a massive job. It's just in talks at the moment, nothings been finalised." Dean says, seriously, "But when it happens, it's going to be a game changer. People seem to really love all the personal touches you put into your articles. Your pictures are inspiring people, making them excited to try new things and get out of their comfort zones."  
Beca was stunned, nobody had ever given her such praise. She had anxiety about whether she had been doing a good job, but now she knew.  
"I knew I had a good feeling about you, Beca. I think taking a chance on you has already paid off, but we still have 7 months to go." Dean smiles, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to go far."  
"…Thanks Dean." Beca seems to stunned for words.  
"No problem, Beca. A good couple of years with us and maybe you'll be even able to open a gallery." He winks at Beca.  
Beca laughs uncomfortably, "Come on, Dean. I told you that was like an ultimate dream. You know the ones that don't normally come true."

Dean knew Beca had the talent for it. He knew one day Beca was going to be a famous photographer. She would have as many galleries as Peter Lik, maybe more. She just needed to believe in herself a little more. But in five months, she had just blossomed, her work was getting better and better every week. Dean makes a note to get one of Beca's pictures now, because it'll be worth a lot one day.  
"I'm telling you, Beca, it's going to happen one day. And I'll be first in line." Dean playfully shoves her.  
"Yeah, ok!" Beca rolls her eyes, though pleased at her boss's support.

"So, who was that pretty redhead in your Serendipity's 3 pictures?" Dean asks, wanting to know for a few weeks now.  
Beca blushes and smiles stupidly, Dean smirks at the stupid look on her face.  
"That's my roommate, Chloe." Beca says, trying to stop herself from smiling.  
"And?" Dean snorts.  
"And… we may have just started dating." Beca grins, like a teenage school girl.  
"Oh Beca, you've got it hard for this girl." Dean continues, smiling at his employee's blushing cheeks.  
Beca covers her faces, grinning and laughing a little. She never let herself act like this with anyone, but maybe it was because she never really liked anyone the way she likes Chloe.  
"I don't even know what'll happen between us, but yeah, I really like her." Beca admits, feeling strange even saying it out loud.  
"She's really gorgeous, Beca. You lucky thing!" He laughs, as if they were just a pair girls giggling over crushes.

"I'm not sure what she sees in me, but yeah, I got pretty lucky." Beca scratches her head sheepishly.  
Something about that sentence bothers Dean. Over the last five months he had gotten to know Beca quite well. She was extremely smart and well versed, just lacked a little confidence. Dean had always thought that was due to life experiences. He had come to like Beca very much and thought very highly of her.  
Dean frowns, "What do you mean, you don't know what she sees in you? You're pretty fantastic, Beca."  
Beca snorts, "Thanks Dean, you'd be one of maybe four people in the whole world who think that."  
Dean stands up, getting up off the desk, "Well, people need to get on your level. Coz you're pretty awesome."  
"You're an idiot." Beca smirks, playfully shoving him.  
"Whatever, weirdo." Dean begins to walk away, "Keep being fantastic."

…

Beca watches Chloe flit around the kitchen as she makes dinner. Chloe seemed to get so lost in her cooking, she always had this content look on her face when she did. Beca pulls out her phone and takes a sneaky picture. She had many candid pictures of Chloe, they were her favourite ones she took. Beca was still yet to find something more beautiful to capture, but maybe she was just bias, because she really liked Chloe. Either way, Beca hadn't even been this inspired in her life.

"So, how was work today, Becs?" Chloe asks, interrupting Beca's admiration of her newest photo.  
"It was good, remember how I wrote an article for that restaurant we went too?" Beca says, looking up, putting her phone down.  
"Um, how can I forget! We ate gold, Beca!" Chloe says, seriously, that had to be one of the most funnest days she had ever had, "You have pushed my expectations for first dates through the roof."  
Beca laughs, "Well, that article pulled more than 2 million views."  
Chloe slams her hands on the counter, "Get out!"  
"Yeah, Dean is beyond happy and now the board is thinking of creating a new blog in Europe. Providing the next seven months goes well." Beca beams, allowing herself to be a little proud.  
Chloe rushes over and pulls Beca into a bone crushing hug.  
"Oh Becs! I'm so proud of you!" Chloe squeals, wanting Beca to feel every ounce of her pride in her hug.

Beca grins, she hardly ever let herself get excited about things, because something always went wrong. But she was so proud of her work, and to have people, other than Stacie, be proud of her was such a nice change.  
"To think, 2 million people have seen my girlfriend's pictures!" Chloe gushes, as she holds Beca even tighter.  
Beca blushes heavily, ' _Girlfriend!?_ '  
Beca's mind goes into a mini meltdown, they had only been seeing each other a few weeks and only been on a few dates. Beca had admitted to herself that her feelings for Chloe were massive, but she didn't think that Chloe's were there yet. Maybe she was wrong.

"You're pretty much internet famous now, Beca!" Chloe pulls back suddenly, "I should get your autograph now, before you get so famous and forget about us little people.  
Beca snorts, "Jeez, you sound like Dean! He thinks in a few years I'll be able to open up a gallery."  
Chloe's eyes widen in excitement, "THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!"  
"That would be impossible." Beca laughs, looking at Chloe's excited face.  
"Well, why not?" Chloe puts her hand on her hip.  
"Because you need years of experience to become famous enough to have a successful gallery." Beca explains, smirking at Chloe's sudden exasperated look, "Plus, you need a shit tonne of money to back yourself."

"Beca, we live in the digital age! Things don't work the way they used too." Chloe says, as she walks back towards the stove to check on their dinner, "Beca, you could a world famous photographer before you know it."  
"I love the optimism, Chlo. But it still doesn't work that way." Beca chuckles.  
"Yeah, well stranger things have happened." Chloe remarks, as she pulls veggies off the stove, "I mean, Stacie fell for Aubrey and I don't think any of us saw that happening."  
Beca had to agree with Chloe there, as much as Stacie's attraction to people doesn't really surprise Beca too much, that one was a little strange.  
"Yeah, I guess. At least Stacie is talking again, it was weird to see her like that." Beca says, resting her head in her hand.

Chloe starts dishing out their dinner, "I wish I could say the same for Aubrey. I may have been a little bit too truthful with her."  
"Hey, that's what best friends are for. To tell us the shit we need to hear, even if we don't like it." Beca says, trying to make Chloe feel better, "I may not be Aubrey's biggest fan, but she needs to really start doing things to make herself happy. I stopped trying with my dad years ago, and even though it was hard, it was the best decision I ever made."  
Chloe knew Beca was right, but Aubrey hadn't spoken to Chloe since that last phone call three weeks ago. Chloe even tried reaching out to her friend Amy, but even Amy couldn't get her to talk to Chloe.  
"Stop stressing, Chlo, she'll come around." Beca assures her, "She just needs some time to adjust these new feelings."  
Chloe sets down a plate of food in front of Beca, "I guess so, but liking a woman isn't that strange."

Beca snorts, "Maybe for you and Stacie it isn't. But for some of us, it's not always a welcomed feeling. That shit I felt with Luisa was extremely hard for me to deal with, and of course, me being me, I dealt with it in true Beca fashion."  
"By screaming nice things at her?" Chloe smirks, as she takes a bite of her meal.  
"I never said I dealt with them in mature way, I just said I dealt with my way." Beca blushes, "All I'm saying is, she just needs time to adjust and with her being as stubborn as she is, she may never deal with them."  
"That's what I'm afraid of." Chloe's face falls, "Aubrey's good at burying her feelings. She's going to burn out before she's 30, I just know it."  
"Yeah, she does need to chill and that's coming from someone who physically can't chill." Beca says, making Chloe laugh.

Beca loved hearing that sound, it was her favourite song. She's not sure anything in the world could top the sound of Chloe's laugh. She knows there may come a day where she won't hear it anymore, but for right now, Beca was allowing herself to enjoy everything about Chloe.  
"Hey, how busy are you tomorrow?" Beca asks, making Chloe look up from her dinner.  
"Um, I have a few clients in the morning, but I'll be free after lunch." Chloe says, "What did you have in mind?"  
"I know the whole thing I do is finding non touristy areas, but do you wanna go to the zoo?" Beca asks, hoping she would say yes.  
The Central Park zoo was one of Beca's favourite places, she never understood people growing up and even though she was no better with animals, she at least knew where she stood with them. The either liked you or ate you, well at least that's how Beca saw it.

"A summery stroll, looking at cute animals with my favourite person?" Chloe's asks, trying to not sound overly excited, "Yeah, I think I could pencil you in."  
Beca snorts, "Oh, why thank you!"  
Chloe let her girlish giggle out as she couldn't even pretend not to be excited. She positively beams as Beca begins to tell her about the animals that would be there and how she used to go there all the time as a kid. Chloe can't help be feel special, Beca never really opens up to many people and Stacie had told her she's never opened up to anyone this fast. (Although, Chloe would like it to be a little faster) There was just something about Chloe, she seemed to weave through Beca's defences and make her feel safe. Chloe watches Beca's face light up as she mentions her favourite exhibit.  
' _I must protect this precious cinnamon roll at all costs._ ' Chloe thinks to herself, as her insides turn to mush at Beca's excited ramblings.

...

The two women stroll through Central Park, hand in hand. It had become one of Beca's favourite things, somehow Chloe's hand just fitted so perfectly in hers. The way she causally laced her fingers through Beca's, made Beca's heart beat just a little faster. But little did she know that it did the same for Chloe.  
"Are we getting close?" Chloe asks, excitedly.  
"Yeah not too far, when you see massive iron gates, you'll know we're there." Beca smiles, pointing off into the distance.  
It was such a beautiful day, people were out sunbathing and kids were playing in the park, enjoying the last days of summer. A few of the park food vendors wave to Beca as they pass by.  
"You know, for someone who doesn't like people, you sure know a whole lot of them." Chloe smirks, teasing Beca.  
"A lot of these guys have been working in the park for decades. I've been seeing them since I was a kid." Beca smiles, as she waves back, "I used to hang out here a lot when Mum and Dad would fight. These old guys would always keep an eye on me when I was taking my photos and always made sure I ate something. Maybe that's why I never really learnt how to cook."

Beca sort of zones out for a moment, as she remembers those years where the park was a solace playground for her. A small smile tugs at Chloe's lips, there are so many layers to Beca and she loved it when she could peel another one back.  
"That's really sweet." Chloe says, squeezing her hand a little tighter.  
"Yeah, I didn't really have grandparents growing up. So it was like having a bunch of grandpa's to hang out with." Beca laughs, "All with thick New York accents."  
"How come you do have one? Haven't you lived here your whole life?" Chloe asked, having always wondered why neither her and Stacie have a New York accent.  
"I don't know, I just never really picked it up." Beca answers, not really sure why she never had one.

They continue down the path, Chloe occasionally swinging their arms and make herself giggle. She was enjoying herself way too much, but she honestly didn't care. She had never felt this way about anyone and even if Beca and she didn't end up long term, she would enjoy every moment she had with her.  
"Ooohhh!" Chloe squeals with delight, as her eyes land upon large iron gates, "This has to be it!"  
Beca smiles to herself as she feels Chloe's grip on her hand tighten even more, and feels her starting to pull her into the zoo. At this point, Beca could only guess that Chloe was even more excited than her.

After they get their tickets, Chloe's grabs Beca's hand and she starts pulling her through the crowd.  
"Hey, slow down." Beca laughs, allowing herself to get swept up in the moment, "I thought I was the one showing you around."  
Chloe laughs as she looks around at everything she could see, "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to see another one of your favourite places!"  
A little smile sparkled at the corner of Beca's lips as a warm feeling spread through her body. Chloe wasn't just excited to go to the zoo, she was excited because it was Beca's favourite place. Beca could only hope that one day she could see some of Chloe's favourite places.  
"Oh my god! Sea lions!" Chloe gasps, dragging Beca very fast towards the exhibit.

Chloe leans up against the railing, gasping at the animals. Beca quickly gets her camera out, not her professional one, just a smaller version. She snaps a couple of pictures of Chloe as she points and giggles at the sea lions. Her pure joy made Beca swoon, never in her wildest dreams could she have thought that she would have fallen for a person that was this happy. Somehow, Chloe's happiness was transferring into Beca, she couldn't remember a time when she was this happy. As much as it scared her to death, she was slowly coming around to the fact she could allow herself to be happy. She laughs again as Chloe's hand snatches up hers and she starts to drag her in a different direction.

"Chloe, we have all day." Beca chuckles, trying to keep up.  
"I know! But I want to see EVERYTHING!" She squeals with joy.  
"Ok, ok, just slow down. My little legs can only go so fast." Beca groans, jokingly.  
Chloe reluctantly slows down, but holds Beca's hand tight. She just loved how when their hands began to slack, Beca always gripped tighter. She even loved the way Beca took sneaky pictures of her, she always pretended to not notice. Beca always took the most beautiful pictures of her, but Chloe was hoping she would get a couple of her own today. She knew Beca was going to show her more excited side and she wanted to get a few pictures to prove that she did actually enjoy herself.  
"Holy shit! Penguins!" Chloe bursts, forgetting she wanted to capture Beca's excited side.  
Beca sniggers as she attempts to keep a hold of Chloe's hand.

…

After a few hours, the two women were still running around the zoo. Beca had gotten some beautiful shots of the animals and some even more beautiful shots of Chloe. Chloe had only managed to get one or two of Beca. Beca was always quick to notice and move away before Chloe could get the picture. But now they were approaching Beca's favourite exhibit, the red pandas. Chloe could tell she was getting excited, there was almost a skip in Beca's step.  
"I can't believe you've never seen a red panda in real life before. Oh, you're going to love these things!" Beca gushes, "If I ever get rich, I'm probably going to buy one."  
"What on earth for?" Chloe laughs at the ridiculous idea.  
"Chloe… it's a red panda! There's no other reason." Beca says, extremely seriously.  
"Yeah ok, weirdo." Chloe shakes her head.

As they get closer, Chloe could swear she heard a little squeal exit Beca's mouth. She glances to the side and sees the biggest smile on Beca's face. She was like a little kid at Christmas.  
"Chloe! Look!" Beca gasps, grabbing her arm, "Look their bushy tails!"  
Chloe laughs, "I can see!"  
"Oh my god! They're so cute!" Beca grasps her face in happiness.  
Chloe watches on laughing, she pulls out her phone and finally snaps a picture of Beca in pure delight. Nothing could make Chloe happier than to see Beca nearly bursting with joy.  
"Chloe look… He's walking!" Beca squeals, gripping the railing.  
Chloe snorts, "Becs, he's supposed to walk."  
"But he does it so cutely!" Beca says, stressing to Chloe the importance of how cute the red panda is.  
"Is cutely a word?" Chloe raises an eyebrow.  
"Shush!" Beca waves at her dismissively.

They could have just come and seen the red pandas and Chloe would have said that she had had the best day. To see Beca become an excited ball of joy was the best thing she'd ever seen.  
"Oh my god! He got startled by a rock!" Beca squeals, with laughter as the red panda ran around and got frightened by a giant rock.  
"Yeah ok, that's pretty cute." Chloe laughs, as the panda fell over onto its back.

 ***Ring Ring***

Chloe's phone starts to ring, "Hold on Becs, Hello?"  
 _"Hey Chloe."_  
"Hey Stacie, what's up?" Chloe asks, as she suppresses a giggle as she watches Beca point at the red pandas.  
" _Um yeah.. Where are you?"_ Stacie asks, stressed.  
"We're at the zoo." Chloe lets out a little snort as Beca starts dancing on the spot because the red pandas made a cute noise.  
" _Yeah there's just…wait, who's we?"_ Stacie asks, now sounding interested.  
"Just me and Becs, why?" Chloe frowns.  
" _Wow… she took you to the zoo… she's doesn't take anyone to the zoo…"_ Stacie mutters, surprised.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asks, now being the one who was sounding interested.  
" _Oh, it's just a special place for her and she doesn't normally take people there with her…"_ Stacie says, before remembering why she called, " _But let's save that conversation for another day. There's someone at home here to see you._ "  
"Really? Who?" Chloe asks, wondering who it could be, she didn't know too many people in New York yet.  
" _Um…"_ Stacie lowers her voice, " _She calls herself Fat Amy. But I feel like that is super offensive._ "

Chloe snorts, as Stacie continues talking a little uncomfortably.  
" _She said you guys are friends, but I feel very weird calling her fat and she called me a twig bitch when I asked her why."_ Stacie says, sounding very confused.

Chloe throws her head back laughing, "It's ok Stace. She's one of my best friends from college. And yeah she calls me a twig bitch too."  
" _Oh.. Ok… you have weird friends."_ Stacie remarks.  
"Well, I made friends with you and Beca, what does that say about you guys?" Chloe sniggers.  
" _Fair point!"_ Stacie couldn't help but agree, " _When will you guys be home? She keeps asking if I'm the one who rooted and booted Aubrey."_  
"We are leaving right now!" Chloe laughs, knowing her Australian friend can be a little too forward for her own good.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's notes: Surprise! I thought I might post again tonight. I've been doing fairly well with the writing, truth be told, I'm about to start chapter 20. Longest story I've ever written and I'm not even finished yet. Hahaha, I'm so glad you guys are still with me and I love that you guys are enjoying the story. And remember to pay attention ;) Enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

Beca and Chloe dash into their apartment building. Chloe was not only excited to see her old friend, but slightly apprehensive to why she was here. There had to be a reason why she was here, Amy just doesn't jump on a plane for visit. Amy was the type of friend you'd go and visit, not to be visited by. Not because she was rude or anything, but simply because she was just too busy with her life to drop things and fly to a different city.  
"Your friend is Australian, right?" Beca asks, as they enter the elevator.  
"Yeah, she decided to study in Atlanta for her first year of college and ended up staying. She became a duel citizen last year." Chloe smiles, "She owns a dance club in Atlanta."  
"Wow! That's cool!" Beca says, impressed.  
"It's pretty fun, it's was rated the most popular club in Atlanta for the last two years." Chloe says, with pride, "She's always so busy. Which is why I'm so surprised she's here."  
"You don't think it's anything bad, do you?" Beca says, apprehensively.  
"No, Aubrey's my serious and supportive friend. Amy's my seriously fun, yet supportive friend." Chloe explains, thoughtfully, as they step out of the elevator and walk towards their door.

Both women enter the apartment to find Amy and Stacie in the middle of a serious conversation.  
"So, you're telling me that there's a way to make people happy and feel great by simply changing the smell in the area?" Amy asks Stacie seriously, not noticing Chloe and Beca walking in.  
"Yeah, smells get routed through your olfactory bulb, which can invoke memories, emotions and can even simply relax you." Stacie explains.  
"So, if there was a way of creating a scent that would make people feel happy and make them want to dance, would that be possible?" Amy asks, becoming very interested.  
"Well, you could definitely make one that would make people happy, I'm not sure about the dancing. But the problem here is that everyone is different, different smells make different people happy." Stacie says, now seriously thinking, "It would be a fantastic experiment."  
"Is it possible?" Amy asks, her own brain going into overdrive.  
"Well, to make a scent that smells different to different people but still makes them feel the same would take a lot of work. I couldn't say it was possible, but it's definitely probable." Stacie says, her own thoughts going into overdrive, it was a fascinating concept.

Amy smiles, who would have thought she would happen upon such smart chick in Chloe's apartment. Amy makes a mental note to continue this conversation with her, she may become a great asset one day. It was then Amy noticed Chloe.  
"Chloe!" She shouts, jumping up.  
"Amy!" Chloe throws her arms in the air and launches into Amy's awaiting ones.  
Amy throws her arms around her friend and picks her up, bringing her into a bone crushing hug.  
"How's it goin, Ginger Sprinkles?" She asks, excited to see her friend.  
Chloe laughs, "I'm great! It's so good to see you!" She squeezes her friend as hard as she could.

Amy sets her friend down and takes a good look at her. She could see joy radiating from her face. While Amy always knew her friend was a happy person, she can't remember seeing this look on her face before or at least not for a very long time. It made Amy pleased to see.  
"What are you doing here?" Chloe exclaims, excitedly.  
"What? Do I need an excuse to visit my favourite ginger?" Amy smirks.  
"Amy!" Chloe grins, putting her hand on her hip.  
"I had some spare time, so I thought I'd come and see what all the fuss is about in the Big Apple." Amy replies, suspiciously.  
"Spare time?" Chloe squints her eyes at her, "Since when do you ever have spare time?"  
Amy grins, "Since I sold my club."  
Chloe's eyes widen in shock and her mouth drops. The club was Amy's baby, Chloe never thought in a million years she'd ever sell it.

"What!" Chloe finally yells, "Why!?"  
"I got an offer I couldn't refuse. Besides, I've been thinking of expanding or at least relocating for a while now." Amy shrugs, as if it wasn't that big of a deal.  
"Relocating?" Chloe asks, with baited breath.  
Amy grins again, "Yeah, that's the other reason why I'm here, I thought I might scout some locations before I decide where I'm going to open next."  
"Oh my god! That would be amazing if you could open here!" Chloe gasps, before remembering she needed to introduce Beca, "Oh..oh I'm so sorry, Amy, I should have introduced everyone, you've met Stacie and this is Beca, Beca this is Amy."  
Beca awkwardly steps out from behind Chloe, "Hi Amy, it's nice to meet you."

Amy turns her attention to Beca, she runs her eyes over the short woman, giving her a thorough analyses. Her hard gaze makes Beca feel anxious.  
"So, you're the hobbit?" Amy asks, hold a hard gaze on Beca.  
"Amy!" Chloe frowns, chastising her friend for that question.  
"I'd prefer the term vertically challenged, thank you!" Beca snaps, sassily.  
Amy snorts, "Chill out, short stack. Anyone who can stand up against one of Aubrey's stare downs, has my upmost respect."  
"I..oh..Thank you.." Beca stammers out, confused.  
Chloe playfully shoves Amy, "God, you're the worst!" She chuckles.  
"What! I gotta make sure this chick is good enough for you." Amy laughs, "Which she must be, or I wouldn't have had to endure an hour long tangent about the smart mouthed hobbit that lives your apartment."

Chloe groans, Beca snorts and Stacie just looks a little sad.  
"Jesus!" Chloe groans.  
"She must really hate me." Beca laughs, scratching her head.  
"Nah, I just think she's a little jealous." Amy says, her voice very thick with an Australian accent.  
"I thought as much." Chloe sighs, sitting down on one of the couches.  
Beca just feels awkward but Stacie looks bewildered.  
"Who is she jealous of?" Stacie asks, confused.  
Amy smirks, for such a smart woman, how could she not see this one?  
"Of these two." She points between Beca and Chloe, "And that she can't have the same type of relationship with a certain sexy scientist that she recently met."  
"Wha…oh!" Stacie blushes and stares at the ground.

"How is Aubrey? She hasn't spoken to me in weeks." Chloe asks, concerned.  
Amy goes and sits next to Chloe and Beca follows and sits next to Stacie.  
"Yeah, I think you just got a little too real with her." Amy remarks, as she watches Chloe's face fall, "Now, come on Gingy, you know very well she's needed a real life smack down for a very long time. And it was better coming from you, if it came from me, she'd have just laughed and walk away."  
"I guess so, I do feel bad though." Chloe shifts guiltily in her seat.  
"Don't! I really think some of it has sunk in." Amy waves her dismissively, but everyone was now at full attention.  
"You think?" Chloe asks, surprised.  
"Yeah… look, you didn't hear this from me.." Amy looks over her shoulder just on the off chance Aubrey comes barging into the apartment, "She and Daddy Posen had a very big argument about her 'future' the other day."

Chloe seems a little stunned, Aubrey never ever argued with her dad. She always just nodded and agreed. He was the one person that could make Aubrey feel smaller than a mouse. So to hear that she had any kind of fight with him, was extremely surprising and very out of character.  
"What about her future?" Chloe asks, beyond interested.  
"Well, that I'm not sure. Aubrey flat refused to tell me what it was about, she let the future tidbit slip and after that she became a vault." Amy sighs, "But it was nice to see her lively fiery spirit back in her. Ever since she came back from New York, she seemed a little broken."  
"She did?" Stacie asks, quietly.  
"Mm-hm, she didn't go into a great deal of details other than to complain about our tiny little friend over here." Amy points at Beca.  
"Hey!" Beca protests.  
"But any mention of Legs and she just got seriously depressed." Amy continues, pointing at Stacie this time.

' _She must be really going through some stuff at the moment.'_ Stacie thinks to herself, now feeling bad for Aubrey.  
"Basically the only thing she did after the New York trip was complain about how tiny got you to fall in love with her, with nothing but a picture and her magically genitals." Amy smirks at Chloe, causing Stacie to start laughing.  
"And here I thought I had the magically genitals! Go Bec!" She holds her hand up for a high five, Beca frowns at her exasperatedly, "No? No high five? Don't leave me hanging!"  
Stacie picks her hand up and makes it high five her own hand.  
"Yeah!" Stacie exclaims, sniggering.  
"You're ridiculous." Beca snatches back her hand.  
"Although, I am very interested in this picture she kept banging on about. Can I see it?" Amy asks, "She said while it was of good quality, it was borderline stalkerish."  
Beca snorts, "I promise I'm not a stalker."

Chloe stands up, "Come, I'll show you."  
She starts to walk away, Amy following suit. Suddenly, she stops and turns to Beca.  
"Oh, I'm sorry Becs, is it ok if I take her into your room and show her the picture?" Chloe asks, knowing Beca doesn't really like people in her room, and she still feels a little guilty about taking Aubrey in there without her permission.  
"Oh… yeah that's ok." Beca nods, appreciating that Chloe asked her.  
"Yay! Thanks Becs!" Chloe smiles, her eyes sparkle a little as she looks at Beca.  
"You two are cute!" Amy grins as they start to walk towards Beca's room, "Who would have thought you'd get a girlfriend in New York, Gingy? I'm very impressed."

Stacie and Beca watch the two walk away, Stacie frowns and looks at Beca. She knew they had started dating but she didn't know they were there yet.  
"Beca, since when do you have a girlfriend?" Stacie asks, watching the lopsided grin appearing on Beca's face, "Did you guys make it Facebook offical and not tell me?"  
"No! She said it to me the other day too, but I thought she was joking." Beca says, feeling a little elated.  
"Beca, I think you have a girlfriend." Stacie says, a little surprised.  
"Holy shit!" The situation really hits Beca, "I think have a girlfriend."  
"Holy shit! You have a girlfriend!" Stacie exclaims, just as excited for her friend, "High five?"  
Beca snorts as she gives in and high fives her friend.

Meanwhile, Amy and Chloe enter Beca's room. Amy is hit with wonder as she takes in the amount of beautiful pictures that surround her. There were so many colours and destinations, it was a little overwhelming.  
"Wow!" Amy whispers, genuinely.  
"I know right!" Chloe smiles, feeling incredibly proud of her girlfriend.  
"I mean, I've read her blog and I thought her pictures were great, but like these are amazing." Amy says, very impressed at Beca's talent.  
"Yeah, Beca and Stacie used to travel a lot when Beca was still studying. Whenever Beca got in a slump, Stacie would whisk her away to a new place to give her some inspiration." Chloe smiles, looking at a picture over Beca's bedside table.  
"Sounds like you've made some pretty cool friends out here, Chlo." Amy remarks, sounding like she was actually very happy for Chloe.

"I have, they're pretty great." Chloe continues to smile, "About a month ago, I was struggling to book clients, so Beca enlisted her co-workers and Stacie, her her lab friends, to book massages with me. I've got more cliental than I've ever had before."  
Amy smiles, Chloe had been through a great deal in her life and Amy was thrilled that she's found such an awesome place for her life in her new city. Though, she did really miss her friend and she was really hoping that she would find the perfect place to open up her new club in New York.  
"So, where is this famous picture I've heard such terrible things about?" Amy smirks, as Chloe frowns.  
"I wish Aubrey would stop being so bitter." Chloe crosses her arms.  
"One day, kid, one day." Amy gives her a sympathetic look, "Aubrey has a lot of her own issues to work through. I'm thinking of dragging her to a therapist."  
Chloe goes to protest that suggestion, but realises that actually could be a good idea, "You have a point."

Chloe moves over towards Beca's desk, the picture has since moved to there. Beca likes to look at when she was writing her articles. Beca says it reminds her that she that taking risks can be a good thing sometimes and to not always be afraid.  
"Well, this is it." Chloe points, smiling, she loved looking at this picture.  
Amy's eyes look towards where Chloe was pointing and sees one of the most stunning pictures she'd ever laid eyes on. It didn't matter that it was her friend, the picture stood alone as a masterpiece. Just looking at it invoked a feeling of freedom and strength inside Amy, she suddenly felt like she could take on anything.  
"Woah.." Amy whispers, gazing up in wonder, but suddenly coming back to earth, "Fuck, you look amazing, Red!"  
"I know right!" Chloe gushes, happily.  
"And this was a few days after the…uh.. Tom incident?" Amy asks, awkwardly.  
Chloe's smile disappears, she looks back at the picture and nods.

Amy frowns, she could see her friend had come so far, but was still a little broken.  
"It's ok to still feel pain from it, Chloe." Amy says, wisely, "Our pasts don't define us and you sure have moved on from Tom."  
Chloe looks back to Amy and smiles broadly. Even though Amy was her fun friend, she was pretty smart and always knew the right thing to say to make Chloe feel better. Chloe walks over and hugs Amy as hard as she could.  
"Thank you Amy." Chloe whispers, as Amy hugs her back just as hard.  
"Always got your back, Red." She responds, "I will also bury the short stack if she hurts you."  
Chloe pulls back, snorting with laughter, "I'll be sure to warn her."

"She is very talented." Amy says, looking around again, "Does she really know a lot about New York?"  
Chloe nods, "Yeah, she's lived here her whole life."  
"Cool." Amy mutters, but Chloe could see she was thinking.  
"I'll ask her to help you to scoop out some places for your new club." Chloe smirks.  
Amy grins, "Ahh Gingy, you're the best!"

…

Beca wasn't even sure why she agreed to this, but she had a hard time saying no to Chloe. So, here she was walking through New York City with her unpredictable friend.  
"Well, first you need to decide where you want to open. Which borough do you want to be in?" Beca asks, as they wander down the sidewalk.  
"I'm sorry, come again?" Amy asks, confused.  
"The boroughs? There are five of them. Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island." Beca explains, "Each one is its own county."  
"Oh right, the five boroughs. Yeah, it sounds familiar now that you say it." Amy says, remembering something about that when she was looking at buying in New York.  
"So, what do you think?" Beca asks, looking at Amy.

Amy thinks about it for a moment, she didn't know a great deal about them.  
"Um, well I have no idea, but we can rule out Staten Island and probably Queens." Amy says, thoughtfully, "I want to stay in the main city area, I guess."  
"So, Manhattan?" Beca asks, to be sure she knew where she should take Amy.  
"Are there good clubs in Manhattan?" Amy asks as they continue walking, avoiding the many trash bags on the sidewalk.  
"Yeah of course. Manhattan has many great clubs. Some of them do have a very high class of cliental." Beca remarks.  
"Hm.. well I'm not really one for exclusions. I want it to be a place for everyone, are there places like that here?" Amy asks, trying to figure out if she picked the right borough.  
"Oh for sure, maybe we'll steer clear of the Upper East Side. That'll cost you a fortune."

The two strangers walk side by side for a while, Beca occasionally suggesting certain places in the city that might be good locations. Amy had trouble picturing them as she didn't know the city as well as Beca. However, she couldn't help but be impressed at the effort Beca was putting in. Given how Aubrey treated her, she'd have imagined that Beca would have been very stand offish with her, and Chloe also mentioned that she wasn't a big fan of people. Yet here she was, guiding her through the city and giving her all the knowledge she could provide.  
"Hey, thanks for showing me around the city. I really don't know how to thank you." Amy says, genuinely, "And for the record, I don't know what Aubrey was talking about. You're not bad at all."  
Beca sighs, "I'll probably never win her over, will I?"  
"Aubrey's a tough nut to crack, she's really protective over Chloe. Don't get me wrong, it's for good reason." Amy frowns.  
"Tom." Beca mutters, angrily.

Amy glances at Beca, realising Chloe must have told Beca about him and what he put her through.  
"We both like to protect Chloe, because she can be a little too trusting for her own good. But Aubrey and I have very different ways of doing it, is all. Aubrey has a very motherly, overbearing approach." Amy explains, defending her friend's infuriating good intentions.  
"And you? What is your approach?" Beca asks, curiously.  
Chloe had never mentioned that Amy was protective of her, in fact Chloe always said that Amy was her breath of fresh air. Amy looks apprehensive, like she didn't want to give up her secret.  
"Well, I guess I'm protective of both my best friends. It's just mines a little more… in the background, so to speak." Amy says, cryptically.

Beca frowns, she honestly had no idea what Amy was talking about.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"So, Aubrey barges in and protect Chloe physically and mentally, well tries to anyway. I protect them from.. Potential or previous foes." Amy says, looking a little guilty.  
Beca squints her eyes at Amy, beginning to understand what she might be talking about.  
"Previous foes? Did you do something to Tom?" Beca asks, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question.  
"Ahh… nothing he can trace back to me." Amy says, coolly.  
Beca gives Amy a startled look, "What? I know people!"  
"I hope you don't mind me saying, but I think you might be a little scarier than Aubrey." Beca says, a little uneasy.  
"Awww, that's the nicest thing someone has ever said to me." Amy slaps Beca on the back in a friendly manner.

They start to approach one of the buildings Amy was interested in, meeting the realtor out the front. It was one of three Amy had really liked out all the buildings she saw online and it happened to be in Manhattan. It had three levels with a large shop awning over the front window. It had previously been used as a store with a fairly large apartment above. But it had a large amount of square feet and a lot of potential. They enter the building and look around. There were old racks and merchandise tables, previously would have held clothes or accessories. The realtor gave the history of the building and explained that a lot of renovations could be done to achieve what Amy might want to build.  
"What kind of club do you want to open anyway?" Beca asks, as the realtor lets them walk around.  
"You know I'm still not set on anything yet." Amy muses, looking around, "Though your friend Stacie gave me some good ideas that could potentially be something."

Beca remembers the conversation she overheard yesterday as they entered the apartment.  
"Like a science theme?" Beca asks, not sure if that would work.  
"No, but I think with her big brain she could help bring my ideas to life. I just don't want to open a club that's a gimmick." Amy sits down on a chair that was near her.  
"Yeah, gimmicks are plentiful here in New York." Beca agrees, having had done articles on a few now expired fads, "Unless you changed your theme regularly."  
Amy looks at Beca, blinking. A club where every few months it got a theme makeover, something different, always evolving.  
"That's…interesting…" Amy's eyebrows furrow in deep thought.  
"It would be a big investment, but if had the main foundations of the club set and built in, you could just bring in new décor, like set pieces, I guess." Beca says, trying to explain her thought, "And you have themed drinks and cocktails, those are always good. I once had one that was inspired by Willy Wonka."

Amy's brain moves into overdrive as potential décor ideas as Beca rambles her thoughts. Today's adults were always saying they don't feel adulty enough. She could create themes that appeal to childlike wonder.  
"That's it!" Amy stands up suddenly, startling Beca.  
"You want a Willy Wonka themed club?" Beca frowns, uncertain.  
"No, but close. Fantasy, something that will invoke the child in all of us." Amy says, though Beca wasn't catching on.  
"What do you mean?" Beca asks, tilting her head.  
"What happens when something makes you feel like a kid again, in a good way?" Amy asks, seriously.  
"I feel happy and usually makes me feel good the rest of the day." Beca says, thinking.  
"What if I could create an atmosphere that could tap into people's childlike wonder and making them feel good? So good, that they want to get up and dance or have such a good time with their friends that it makes them feel good all week. Create drinks that are so exciting to look at and drink, that alcohol isn't their main priority, it's just a fun extra. How would that sound to you?" Amy asks Beca.

Beca racks her brain to think if she had been to or heard of a club of this nature. She had been to many of the last few months, and nothing comes to mind.  
"That sounds like it could be amazing, if it was done right." Beca says, carefully.  
"And not just that.." Amy says, excitedly, her Australian accent getting thicker as she lets her excitement get the better of her, "If it works and people respond to it well, I would have them involved in the theme changing process."  
"Like a competition?" Beca asks, now really starting to like the idea.  
"Yeah, I'm only one person. There's only so many ideas I can think of. But I could put it out there for people to submit ideas and the best three go in for a vote and whoever wins gets…um…well, I'm not sure yet." Amy wasn't sure what they'd win.  
"An exclusive party the night before the new theme goes public." Beca says, the thought just bouncing into her head.  
"Brilliant!" Amy exclaims, excitedly.  
"Amy..If this works, you could be the hottest club around. Your club could have an extremely long stay here in New York." Beca says, seriously.  
"Well Short Stack, I think we may be on to something." Amy grins broadly, as she looks around the building again, her mind going so fast with ideas, "But I think I need to talk to Legs again. I'm going to need her help."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, I honestly didn't think I** **would post again this week. I've had a really shit week. It's been pretty rough, but because I have such amazing family and friends, I'm looking at the positives and will make it through once again. And thank you to all of you guys who read and support my stories. I love all of you! Please enjoy the next chapter, we still have a long way to go! :D**

* * *

 **6 weeks later**

"Goodbye Mrs Bianchi, I'll see you in four weeks." Chloe smiles, waving off her last client for the day.  
"Oh, Chloe! You're a treasure!" The little Italian woman gushes, "I can't believe you're not married."  
Chloe suppresses an eye roll, "One day, maybe, Mrs Bianchi."  
"I should introduce you to my Sal. He's such a good boy." She coos about her son.  
"I'm sure he is, Mrs Bianchi, but I've told you, I have a girlfriend." Chloe explains for the 100th time.  
Mrs Bianchi tuts exasperatedly, "You kids and your experimenting. You'll want to settle down one day, Chloe."  
"I can do that with a woman too, Mrs Bianchi." Chloe smiles, trying hard not to lose her patience.  
Mrs Bianchi sighs, "I suppose you can, but you would fit into our family so well. Never mind."

Mrs Bianchi lovingly pats Chloe's hand before she leaves the spa. Chloe breathes a sigh of relief, she likes Mrs Bianchi, but she insists on Chloe marrying her son. She wasn't the only one that asks Chloe to marry a member of their family. She gets one at least twice a week, all of them think she'd be better off marrying their son or nephew or brother. It gets extremely tiring having to explain she has a girlfriend and is very happy with that situation.  
' _If they are so good, why aren't they already married?'_ Chloe thinks to herself, huffing as she goes to tidy up her up her therapy room.

Chloe was finishing up when she feels her phone vibrating in her pocket. She pulls it out and sees Amy's name flash up on her screen.  
"Hey Amy!" Chloe says, happily.  
" _Hey Red! How's your day going?"_ Amy asks.  
"It was ok, about ten clients today. And I had another mother marriage proposal." Chloe sighs, bitterly.  
" _Another one? Damn Red, you're like New York Mum catnip!"_ Amy laughs, heartedly.  
"Tell me about it, and they all think Beca is phase." Chloe sits down on her massage bed.  
" _Chloe, Beca could put a ring on your finger, while simultaneously eating you out and they'll still says it's a phase."_ Amy jokes, laughing.  
"Oh my god! Amy! You're so gross!" Chloe laughs, in spite of herself.

" _Yeah, yeah, you love me._ " Amy continues laughing.  
"So, how was your day?" Chloe asks, moving on from the subject of a Beca oral job.  
" _I'm glad you asked, Gingy! I've had a rather fantastic and productive day._ " Amy says, sounding like she was bursting to with news.  
"Really? Well I'm intrigued." Chloe grins, hoping to hear some good news.  
" _Well, somebody you know has just procured a place of residency and a place of work."_ Amy says, " _Wanna guess who it is?_ "  
Chloe stands up, beyond excited, "Amy! Are you moving to New York?"  
" _We are going to be New Yorkers together, Gingy!"_ Amy exclaims, through the phone.

Chloe lets out a little squeal and dances on the spot. She can't believe she's going to have one of her best friends living so close to her again.  
"Amy!" Chloe squeals, happily, "I'm so excited!"  
" _So am I! The prospect of a new project has really got me goin, but I'm not gonna become a gutser."_ Amy says, seriously.  
Chloe pauses, Amy just spoke Australian to her, but she couldn't figure out what she meant.  
"American please!" Chloe requests, laughing.  
Amy laughs, " _Oh right, I mean that I'm excited but I'm not going to try and overdo it. I'm going to take my time building the club, coz it's gonna be exy, but I gotta spend the money though. And when I'm done, deadset Chloe, it's going to be my greatest accomplishment_." Amy was so excited, that her Aussieness was seeping out.

Chloe giggles at her friend, she always did this when she got excited and Chloe managed to understand most of what she was saying.  
"I'm so happy for you, Amy!" Chloe smile, blissfully.  
She honestly couldn't be happier for her friend. Amy worked harder than anyone she knew. She might be silly and more than a little crazy, but she knew business better than anyone.  
" _Thanks Chloe!"_ Amy says, before sighing, " _Though, I'm not sure how Bree's going to take it."_  
Chloe's smile falls, "You haven't told her yet?"  
" _No, I'd rather wrestle a croc before telling her that I'm moving to New York too. Can you imagine it? She'll think I'm abandoning her too._ " Amy cries, " _I'd be better off kidnapping her and bringing her along. At least she could try and finally get with Legs._ "

Chloe giggles in sympathy, she remembers when she told Aubrey she was moving to New York. It contained a lot of shouting, crying and a last minute phone call to beg her to stay. For someone how acts as strong and independent as Aubrey, it was hard to witness. And if Amy leaves her too, Aubrey might just have an aneurysm.  
"I mean, you could try that, but I'm sure she'll try to fight you." Chloe grins, imagining Amy trying to kidnap Aubrey.  
" _I love her, but I think I'd rather take on the croc._ " Amy sniggers.  
"Well. You'll have to tell her at some point, I think she'll notice that you're gone." Chloe says, sighing.  
" _I mean, she'll be a lawyer soon…she'll be so busy, maybe she won't notice._ " Amy says, thoughtfully.  
"Amy!" Chloe snaps, playfully.  
" _What!_ " Amy whines, as the two friends laugh.

…

 **3 weeks later**

It was 6am and Beca was awake. She doesn't remember why she agreed to this, but nevertheless she was awake. She rubs her eyes as she enters the familiar dusty building with Chloe and Stacie in toe, both yawning as they went.  
"There they are! My New York crew!" Amy shouts, coming down the stairs from the second floor of the three floored building.  
"Why do you guys look like crap?" She asks, noticing their weary looks.  
"It's 6am, Ames." Chloe mutters, yawning again.  
"Is it? Ha, I didn't even realise." Amy laughs, seemingly full of energy.

Chloe, Beca and Stacie all received calls from Amy about an hour before, telling them to get their arses up and over to her new building. She was just too excited about it, that she had to share it with her best friend and her new friends.  
"When did you even get here?" Stacie yawns, plonking herself down in the closest chair.  
"About two hours ago. I drove here." Amy grins, like she did something she shouldn't have done.  
"You drove here…from Atlanta? Why?" Beca scrunches up her face, having done many a road trip, she couldn't imagine why she would want to drive 13 hours.  
"Well, I move into my new place in a few days, so I wanted to get some of my stuff sorted out." Amy says, still grinning like a Cheshire Cat.  
Chloe begins to wake up a little more as she looks at her friend's weird facial expressions. She wasn't grinning because she was happy, no, this was a different look all together. It was somewhere between guilt and amusement.

"Amy…What did you do?" Chloe squints at her suspiciously.  
Amy feigns surprise, letting out a comical gasp and covering her heart.  
"What on earth do you mean?" Amy says, in a terrible southern bell accent.  
"You're either up to something or you've down something. I'm not awake enough to figure which yet, but you're hiding something." Chloe glares at her friend, "Amy! You didn't do something illegal, did you?"  
"Would I, Fat Patricia Amy Jones the Third, do something of the illegal nature?" Amy asks, pretending to be a little offended.  
"Yes." Both Chloe and Beca say at the same time.  
Chloe looks surprised that Beca answers too, but she needs to figure how bad Amy messed up so she can fix it. Amy smirks at her friend's, she decides to give in, they would find out eventually.

"Ok, but it ain't even that bad." Amy grins, her eyes snapping over to Stacie, "And you'll be pleased I did it."  
Stacie frowns, wondering what on earth Amy could have done that was illegal that would make her happy. Chloe then gasps so loudly, that it makes everyone jump.  
"AMY! YOU DIDN'T! WE WERE JOKING!" Chloe shouts, with a very alarmed look.  
"Calm down, Chloe. She knew we were going somewhere, I just didn't tell her where. It was surprise road trip." Amy says, grinning sheepishly.  
Beca and Stacie look between the two friends wondering what on earth was going on.  
"Well…WHERE IS SHE?" Chloe shouts, knowing there will be hell to pay.  
"She's asleep, at the hotel."  
"…please tell me you didn't slip her a sleeping pill?" Chloe stresses, covering her face in exasperation.  
"No!" Amy says, indignantly, "I wouldn't drug anyone! She took it all on her own, thank you very much!"

It was suddenly dawning on Stacie and Beca what Amy did. Both women had to admit, Amy was braver than both of them combined.  
"Does she even know she's here?" Chloe asks, beyond stressed at this point.  
"Nah, she's been asleep from about an hour in to the drive. I told her I'll do all the driving so she could have a sleep. She said great, pulled out a bottle of Ambien, took two and blacked out for the rest of the trip." Amy explains, what actually happened, "Made it very easy for me to get her into New York."  
Chloe covers her face not even wanting to imagine what's going to happen next, she starts pacing in a panic. Beca walks over to try and provide some comfort. While Stacie just seemed a little stunned.  
"So you're telling me, you smuggled Aubrey into New York City?" Stacie asks, in wonder.  
Amy nods and grins, earning her a groan from Chloe.  
"Holy shit!" Stacie remarks, impressed.

The three women just stare at Amy with various degrees of pride and insanity. There had to be something said for Amy's cunningness and stupidity.  
"So, what's going to happen when she wakes up and finds out she's in New York?" Chloe yells, really losing it, "She is going to freak the hell out!"  
"Well… I'm not so sure she will." Amy admits, deciding to sit down next to Stacie.  
"What are you talking about?" Chloe snaps, impatiently.  
"Remember how I told you she had a fight with her dad?" Amy asks, sounding like she had a story.  
"Yeah?"  
"Well, I don't think she's told me about all of them… but I get the feeling she's been having a lot of them with him lately." Amy explains, "I was having trouble thinking of a way to tell her I was going to New York, when I thought, hey I'll just surprise her and take her with me."  
"And I thought about what you would say.." she continues looking at Chloe's face, "And you're right red, it was a completely insane idea, which is why I went through with it."  
Both Beca and Stacie snigger.

"So, I said to her, 'Hey Bree wanna go on a road trip? Destination is a surprise though.' And she said yes, no questions asked." Amy frowns, scratching her head, "I was really surprised, I asked her if she was ok, and she had this kind of pained look on her face and told me she was fine and asked when we were leaving. She couldn't wait to get out of Atlanta."  
Chloe's face falls to concern, this sounded nothing like the Aubrey she knew. Aubrey liked a strict schedule, knowing exactly when and where she was going to be at all times. Something was very wrong.  
"She didn't say it was because of her dad per se, but she muttered that she just had to get away from him. Who 'him' is, I can only surmise, but I'm assuming it's her dad. She's been really lonely the last few months. I can tell she misses you even more now." Amy finishes.  
"She hasn't spoken to me in months." Chloe comments, sadly, "I've tried calling, but she won't answer."  
"I think she doesn't want to admit you were right, Red." Amy suggests, Chloe looking up at Amy, "She's always the one who mother's us and gives us the good advice, but you straight up gave her some home truths and I think it hit her really hard."

The group sits in silence for a long time, mulling over the information that had come to light. Chloe felt bad that she couldn't have been there for her friend when she was having trouble. She knew it wasn't her fault and that Aubrey had pushed her away, but it didn't change the fact that she was her best friend.  
"I should go talk to her." Chloe says, after a while.  
"Actually… could I?" Stacie asks, tentatively, surprising everyone, "I feel like a lot of this is my fault."  
"Legs, I don't think any of this is anyone's fault…" Amy begins.  
"I still want to go talk to her, I want to apologise." Stacie says, quietly, Beca pats her shoulder sympathetically.  
"But you didn't do anything wrong." Chloe frowns, concerned.  
Stacie shrugs not saying anything else. Chloe looks at Beca who gives her a little nod. Beca knew why Stacie wanted to go and she thought it would be good closure for both of them if they decide to part ways.

…

Stacie nervously travels up the elevator of Amy's hotel. She didn't realise just how much money Amy had, but she couldn't help but marvel at all the floors she was travelling up.  
' _God! Amy must be loaded!'_ she thinks as the elevator stops on level 30, two from the top.  
She steps out on the floor and walks to find the numbered door she was after. She can't remember a time she ever felt this nervous. She never got nervous unless Beca was cooking. But as she walked ever closer to her final destination, Stacie could feel her heart beating so hard, she could hear it in her ears. She hadn't seen Aubrey in months and they didn't part on good ways. Stacie put her heart out for the first time only to have it stomped on. Even so, she felt bad for Aubrey, it can't be easy fighting inner demons and your own father at the same time.

As Stacie rounds the corner, she faces a set of double doors with the number 3012 on it. She takes a deep breath, calming her nerves, before knocking on the door. Amy gave her a key, but given the circumstances she didn't think it would be best to just barge in. It was about a good minute before Stacie heard any movement in the room, she knocks again.  
" _Go away, Chloe!_ " Stacie hears from behind the door.  
Stacie was surprised at the shout, though it would have been the obvious choice to send Chloe. Stacie wasn't sure if she should tell her it wasn't Chloe.  
"Hm." She mulls out loud, before just knocking again.  
Stomping followed Stacie's knocking, the door gets reefed opened.  
"I said go awa.." Aubrey stops dead in her tracks, a shocked look appears on her face.  
Stacie's heart flutters, even after all these months apart, the uptight blonde still made her heart beat fast.  
Stacie gives Aubrey half a smile, "Hey."

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd be Chloe." Aubrey says, regaining her composure.  
"It's ok, can we talk?" Stacie asks, unsure if Aubrey would even let her in.  
It was evident on Aubrey's face that she was fighting with herself on whether to talk to Stacie or not. Stacie had caused her so many problems the last few months, not that she knew that she had or did it on purpose. But Stacie made Aubrey's heart pound too, she made her feel things she never felt with anyone she ever knew and she made her look at her life and re-evaluate what she wanted and needed. Something that had been causing a lot of fights with her father.  
Aubrey sighs, "I suppose."  
She walks away from the door, not letting Stacie see how nervous she was. She really wasn't sure what she was going to say to Stacie. She hadn't made any decisions on what she wanted in her life and she didn't want anyone pressuring her.

Stacie enters the large suite. It was beautifully decorated, adorned in regal furniture and a lot of gold trimmings. It had floor to ceiling windows, giving magnificent views overlooking Central Park. Stacie couldn't believe that Amy would stay in a place this royal looking, but she had to admit, it was very fancy.  
"My answer is still no." Aubrey says, presumptuously.  
Stacie raises her eyebrows in surprise, causing Aubrey to realise that wasn't why she was here.  
"Yeah, that's not what I'm here for." Stacie comments, coolly, making Aubrey blush.  
"I'm sorry, then what can I help you with?" Aubrey recovers, quickly.  
"Nothing, I just came here to apologise." Stacie says, looking her directly in the eyes.  
Aubrey continues to blush as Stacie doesn't break eye contact. She turns away cursing her heart for beating so fast.  
"What for?" Aubrey asks, ignoring the overwhelming feelings she was having.  
"I shouldn't have pushed you, and I realise that being with me wasn't exactly in your plans. I never meant to cause you any difficulties, especially with your family." Stacie starts, sounding sincere.

Aubrey frowns, "What is that supposed to mean?" Turning herself around to look back at Stacie.  
"I understand that you have a family name to live up to and I don't want to cause you any major problems with your dad. I've just co…."  
"Excuse me!" Aubrey snaps, "Who said I was having problems with my father?"

Aubrey remembers she told Stacie the she had a few issues with her dad, but she never told her they were having major problems. Stacie's face stays passive.  
"What exactly did Amy say to you?" Aubrey snaps, again, realising it had to have been Amy.  
"Not a great deal." Stacie says, not letting Aubrey's angry face scare her, "Just that she was worried about her best friend, who seems to be going through some really major stuff. She said she didn't know how to help her without meddling in family affairs."  
Aubrey's angry face falls, Amy always meant well and she really couldn't be angry at her. Aubrey sighs and goes and throws herself down on the fancy couch. Stacie watches her, she could tell the Aubrey was really worn out. Not physically, but emotionally. She had this look on her face, like she was fighting against the world.

Stacie sits opposite her, trying to get a reading off Aubrey. Aubrey stares out the window, trying to ignore Stacie's intense stare.  
"Are you mad that Amy brought you here?" Stacie asks, looking at Aubrey.  
Aubrey continues to stare out the window, not really wanting to answer Stacie's question. But Stacie isn't one to give up.  
"Aubrey?"  
Aubrey's eyes look over to Stacie, she could see a concerned look on her face.  
"No, I'm not mad." Aubrey admits with a sigh, "I had a feeling she was bringing me here."  
The admission surprises Stacie, she willing let Amy drive her to New York.  
"How'd you guess?" Stacie asks.  
"Amy might be great at keeping secrets, but she's not great at closing her internet tabs." Aubrey shakes her head, "I was at her place a few weeks ago and she left her computer on and I saw her looking for an apartment in New York."

They fall silent for a moment, Aubrey turns her head to look back outside, becoming incredibly interested in the park. Stacie frowns, something wasn't adding up. Aubrey told her she didn't want to come back to New York, so why would she willingly allow Amy to drive her here?  
"So why did you come?" Stacie asks, getting directly to the point.  
She sees a small grimace shutter through Aubrey, it was obvious she didn't want to talk about it. Maybe she didn't even want to think about it, but Stacie wanted to know.  
"You must have decided to come here for a reason, so how come?" Stacie continues to pry, "Has your dad given you so much grief that you would willingly come back here?"  
Aubrey turns and glares at Stacie.  
' _I think I struck a nerve._ ' Stacie muses.  
"Well?" Stacie asks, unfazed by Aubrey's glare.  
"Yes! Ok, yes! I wanted to get away from my father for a few days! Because I can't stand his cold gaze and his disappointed tone!" Aubrey snaps, standing up, "Happy?"

Aubrey continues to glare at Stacie, breathing heavily.  
"No.. it makes me very sad to know you've been this unhappy." Stacie says, earnestly.  
A series of emotions run through Aubrey. Surprise, fear, apprehension, appreciation. Why did this woman care about her so much? They barely knew each other. Yet, Aubrey could see nothing but concern on Stacie's face.  
"You seemed surprised." Stacie says, observing Aubrey's emotions.  
"We don't know each very well." Aubrey says, trying to keep her passive, but failing.  
"Well… I wouldn't say that." Stacie smirks, throwing her a lusty look.  
Aubrey blushes hard as memories of the week she spent with Stacie come flooding back in vivid details.  
"That's not what I meant." Aubrey growls in a whisper.  
"I told you last time, Aubrey. I want you in my life, it doesn't matter if we're together or not. I still want to know you." Stacie says, seriously.

Aubrey couldn't understand why she still wanted to be friends, how do people just go from being intimate to being friends? It didn't make sense. Not mention, Aubrey had a really hard time making friends, people just didn't automatically want to be friends with her.  
' _I'm not Chloe!_ ' She thinks, confused at Stacie's words.  
"Why? Why do you still want to be friends? I... I was really mean to you." She mutters the last part, still a little ashamed of what she did.  
"I'm not saying what you did wasn't a little shady, but I understand you going through some shit." Stacie says, agreeing, "But why wouldn't I want to be your friend? You're smart, you're funny and very witty. You care about your friends to the point you'd probably kill for them…"  
Aubrey listens in wonder as Stacie list off the things she likes about her, nobody had ever really said these things to her before, besides Chloe and Amy.  
"…Not to mention, you're fiercely independent and you can go toe to toe with Beca. I feet not match by many." Stacie says, sounding very impressed.

Not a single mention about Aubrey's looks, which surprised her. Usually that was the only thing she had going for her, most men were intimidated by her brains and independence. But Stacie revered it, Aubrey was starting to think that maybe moving to New York wouldn't be so bad after all. She'd have her best friends and she would have new ones.  
' _I guess Chloe is right, my father can't control me forever._ ' Aubrey muses, as she goes and sits beside Stacie.  
"I'm not saying that I'm staying… but I would like to be friends.. If you'll have me." She says, quietly.  
Stacie smiles, regardless of whether they ended up together, she knew that Aubrey was a one of kind person. She hopes that she could get the chance to show her that.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, Thanks again for the awesome response. I'm really close to an ending, I'm just having a little writer's block. So send me some good vibes. Also, To any of my readers in the UK, I'm sending all of my prays and love. What has happened in the past few weeks is beyond evil, and I can't fathom what you guys must be going through. Please stay strong and continue to love each other. Because if we don't, they win. Australia and the World will stand by you. I love you guys! I pray all of you guys stay safe and well!**

* * *

 **3 weeks later**

Beca slumps into her bed, exhausted from the last few weeks. Not only had she been writing her articles and running all over the city, but she had been helping Amy with the renovations of her new building. In fact they all had been, Chloe, Stacie and she had been throwing out old fixtures, pulling up floors and knocking down walls. Amy had a very ambitious plan for the building. Beca couldn't help but wonder why they were doing it rather than hiring a contractor. Amy seems so confident when she spoke that no one questioned it, but it was incredible exhausting work.

"Shove over, short stack." Amy says, gently pushing Beca on to the other side of her bed.  
"Hey Amy." Beca mutters, letting Amy move her because she was simply too tired to argue.  
Amy jumps onto the bed next to Beca, sighing out loud as she got comfortable, letting the squishy mattress ease her aching muscles.  
"Your bed is really comfy." Amy mutters, tiredly.  
"I like it.." Beca says, lifting her head slightly, "One question though, why are you in my bed?"  
"Well, my furniture still hasn't arrived yet." Amy explains, deciding to pull the blanket up.  
"But why my bed?" Beca whines, playfully.  
"Because your couch is not long enough for me. And Chloe has one of those 'it's good for your back' beds and it feels like a slab of concrete." Amy frowns, having always hated Chloe's bed.  
Beca couldn't help but agree, when the two had sleep overs it was usually in her bed because she could stand Chloe's hard bed.  
"And I can't bring myself to sleep in Stacie's bed." She grimaces, pulling a face, "God knows what things her and Bree did in there."

Beca looks at Amy and snorts, "What? Me and Chloe doing 'things' in my bed doesn't bother you?"  
Amy shook her head, "Not particularly. I know Chloe is a very sexual person, so it's not odd for her to have sex. But Aubrey is so uptight and serious, it's like imagining your mum having sex."  
Beca cracks up laughing, but she had to admit, she had a point. She had really come to like Amy, she was so unpredictable and had zero filter, which always made for a very interesting conversation.  
"I'm so tired." Amy yawns, snuggling into the blanket.  
"Same! I don't think I've ever done this much physical activity in my entire life." Beca groans, feeling her aching muscles twinge as moved a little.  
"Lucky, when I was still in college with Aubrey and Chloe, Aubrey used to make us do lots of cardio. Urgh! It's apparently good to stimulate the brain." Amy groans, remembering all the early mornings Aubrey would make them run.  
"Gross." Beca mutters, "I don't know how much more I can help you with Amy, I have a giant week next week."  
"That's ok, Beca. We've done the shitty stuff, I've got a contractor coming in as of next week. I saved a hell of a lot of money with you guys helping me." Amy comments, happily.  
"How lucky for you." Beca mutters, bitterly.

Amy sniggers, "Think of it this way, you had a hand in building the newest, possibly best, club in New York City."  
"You think it's going to that successful?" Beca asks, wondering how she has so much confidence.  
"O ye of little faith." Amy shakes her head at Beca, slamming her with a pillow.  
"Don't be throwing religion at me." Beca laughs, fending off the pillow, "It's a fair question."  
"Humph, fine! Yes I do think it's going to be very successful. I've been studying the market trends and researching the clubs already established in New York." Amy says, confidently, "I can say there isn't anything like the club I'm going to open. And with the concept of the constant changing theme, it'll keep things fresh and new. Which is what people in New York like."

Beca had to admit, the original idea they came up with was still very appealing. She knew that trends come and go in New York so quickly, there was definitely a market for club of this design. Amy seemed to know business like the back of her hand. She knew where to spend money and on what to maximise her profits. Despite being new to the city, she had already made friends with people that could help her further her business. Not that that was the only reason she was friends with Beca and Stacie, but the woman was smart enough to stay in their good graces. Both of them could help her become a huge success.

"I still can't believe Stacie agreed to help you." Beca yawns, stretching out.  
"What can I say, I gave her an idea that she couldn't refuse." Amy shrugs, "She smart enough to figure it out though."  
"You think so? A scent that smells different to everyone? That's some straight up Harry Potter shit!" Beca comments, wondering how on earth that was even possible.  
"Well, I mean it'll be something along those lines. I'm not even sure that it's even possible to be exactly like that. It be amazing if she could figure it out though." Amy smiles, excitedly, "Imagine it, the scent gets pumped through a smoke machine and your favourite smell is butter cookies. So when the smoke reaches you, you smell butter cookies."  
"That sounds incredible, but nearly impossible. But Stacie is extremely smart, so if anyone could invent a Harry Potter perfume, it will be her." Beca yawns again, getting comfortable.

At that moment, Chloe walks in and sees the two women laying in bed together. She was so pleased that Stacie and Beca were getting along so well with Amy. But then again, Amy usually got along with most people. Chloe smiles as she sees both woman starting to fall asleep, her smile then turns mischievous. She gasps loudly causing both women to jump startled.  
"Beca Mitchell! You have another woman in your bed!" She shouts, dramatically.  
Beca turns and looks at Amy, "Oh, yeah. She followed me home."  
"And you let her into your bed?" Chloe scolds, playfully.  
"Not consciously." Beca smirks, earning a shove from Amy, "I woke up and she was here."  
"I'm laying right here!" Amy shouts, a little offended, "Besides, you couldn't handle my sexy, fat arse anyway."  
Both Chloe and Beca snort with laughter, as Chloe climbs into the bed, snuggling into Beca.  
"Are you saying you're too much of a woman for little ol' me?" Beca asks, interested.  
"Yes."  
"I don't know if I should be offended by that or not." Beca sniggers, holding Chloe close to her.

"I'm sure you're nimble, Beca. But you're just too much of a shrimp to handle all of me." Amy runs her hands over her body as she explains.  
Chloe snorts, "Don't be so sure Amy, Beca knows tricks."  
"Dude!" Beca blushes, heavily.  
Amy and Chloe laugh, "Little shorty is a freak, good to know!" Amy smirks.  
"Shut up!" Beca shoves Amy, while Chloe just grins blissfully.

Just then, Stacie enters the room fresh from a shower. She takes in the sight of her three friends, all piled into Beca's queen sized bed. She was still unsure why Beca needed such a big bed, but now she has so many occupants, it worked out well.  
"So, y'all gonna have a cuddle fest without me?" Stacie frowns, standing over the bed.  
"You were in the shower." Chloe reasons, while holding onto Beca tightly.  
"To be clear, Chloe is the only one cuddling. Her funsized girlfriend and I were just resting." Amy points out.  
"Do you want to cuddle too, Stace?" Beca smirks, knowing Stacie was preparing to jump in the bed with them.  
"Yes please." She grins, as she slides in between Amy and Beca.  
Amy groans as Stacie snuggles in, "This is what I get for befriending a bunch of lesbians."

…

Stacie bursts into the apartment, she has a white lab coat on and a set of safety googles set it her hair. She's holding a bottle in her hand.  
"Beca!" Stacie shouts, knowing she'd be home today.  
"What?" Comes a shout from down the hall.  
Stacie excitedly runs down the hall, holding the bottle tightly in her hand. She launches herself into Beca's room, startling Beca in the process.  
"Beca!" Stacie exclaims, looking more excited than she's ever been.  
"What's the matter? I thought you'd be at the lab working on Amy's Harry Potter perfume idea with your lab friends." Beca frowns, looking at her worked up friend.  
"We no longer need to work on it because we've made it." Her eyes are wide and her smile turns into the most proud grin.

Beca looks at her friend surprised, "You're telling me, in matter of a few weeks you made a magically perfume."  
Stacie knew Beca would be sceptical, "We started working on it as soon as Amy gave me the idea. It's taken a little over 3 months, but we've done it."  
Beca was a little dumbfounded, in three months they were able to make a perfume that'll smell different to everyone who smells it. Beca didn't even think it was possible to make let alone so quickly.  
"Seriously?" Beca asks, still not sure if she believes it.  
"Here…" she takes the top of the bottle, "Smell it and it'll smell exactly like your favourite smell."  
Beca looks at the the glass bottle apprehensively. Stacie had always warned her to not stick her face close to anything sciencey, in case it exploded. But here she was pushing it towards her. Beca takes a deep breath, she trusted Stacie so it must be ok. She leans forward and takes a sniff.

"It smells like Chloe's shampoo." Beca says, underwhelmed.  
"That's your favourite smell?" Stacie says, confused, "I thought it was brand new printing paper?"  
"Well yeah, but my favourite smell can change." Beca shrugs, "What do you smell?"  
"Honeysuckles." Stacie says, sniffing it.  
"Wait, didn't your parents have plant boxes outside your windows with honeysuckles when you were a kid?" Beca asks, starting to feel impressed.  
"Yeah, I loved looking at them." Stacie smiles, dreamily, "And the smell used to waft into my room during the summer."  
"So, you really smell honeysuckles and not strawberry shampoo?" Beca asks, seriously.  
"Yes of course, and Joey smelt pretzels, Uni smelt freshly mown grass and Flo smelt something I have never even heard of." Stacie explains, talking about her lab mates.

Beca looks at her best friend in awe for a moment, she and her nerd friends created a magically perfume in just over 3 months. She always knew how smart Stacie was, but this was ridiculous.  
"Stacie! This is amazing!" Beca jumps up out of her chair.  
"I know! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Stacie shouts back excitedly, finally getting the reaction she was wanting.  
"Amy is going to freak the fuck out when you tell her!" Beca exclaims, beyond excited.  
"Tell me what?" Amy asks, walking in eating a sandwich.  
"Ahhhhh!" Both woman jump in surprise, Stacie nearly dropping her bottle.  
"Amy!" Beca shouts.  
"What the hell!" Stacie shouts as well, "How the hell did you get in here?"  
"I have a key." Amy says, causally, taking a bite of her sandwich.

The two woman stare at her, not sure if that should be afraid or angry that she entered their apartment so easily.  
"What? How?" Stacie questions, confused.  
"No! Don't answer that! I don't want to know how you got a key to our apartment." Beca says, before she could answer, remembering how Amy seemed to know lots of people.  
Amy smirks, taking another bite of her sandwich. She was impressed on how quickly the shorty seems to figure her out, knowing when to ask questions and when to not question anything.  
"So, why are you guys have a midday celebration up in here?" Amy asks, with a mouthful.  
Stacie, now finally calming her racing heart, turns to Amy with a happy grin.  
"We did it." She hands Amy the opened bottle, "One Harry Potter perfume in a bottle."  
Amy looks at the glass bottle that was filled with a clear liquid, wondering if it could possibly be true. She looks back at Stacie who seemed to be so excited and Beca looked genuinely impressed. She puts the bottle to her nose and takes a big sniff. A fresh and salty scent fills Amy's nose, a flood of memories of her seaside hometown back in Tasmania come back to her in an instant.

A long moment had passed as Beca and Stacie watch for Amy's reaction. She had closed her eyes and not said anything. Stacie's was starting to get worried, when she suddenly smiles softly.  
"I smell the ocean." She says, softly.  
"Oh my god!" Beca's eyes widen, still beyond impressed.  
Amy's eyes snap open, as if she's broken out of her trance.  
"And you both smell something different?" Amy asks, looking between the two women.  
Both nod, "Chloe's shampoo." Beca answers.  
"The honeysuckles that used to be on my windowsill when I was a kid." Stacie answers as well.

Amy looks at the seemingly, harmless liquid. It had to be chock full of chemicals, she couldn't help but wonder how safe it was.  
"And this is 100% safe?" Amy asks, seriously, before she gets a head of herself.  
"Yeah, we added a harmless chemical to the formula that triggers something in medial temporal lobe. That's the area that stores memories. Essentially the perfume is odourless, but once that chemical has triggered a memory, it tricks you into thinking you're smelling something you love." Stacie explains, in terms they could understand.  
"That's incredible!" Amy whispers in awe, looking down at the clear liquid.  
"But that's not the best part, we're now working on a way where we could use it in a drink. So it would taste different to everyone as well." Stacie says, already thinking about her next project.  
A huge smile breaks out on Amy's face, not only can she see her future business becoming extremely successful, but she could see Stacie's talents earning her many accolades in the future.

"Legs, I don't know what to say. You my friend, are a bloody genius." Amy laughs, happily, "When do you graduate?"  
"Like two and half months."  
"Consider you and your team employed." Amy says, seriously, "If you guys can do this.." holding up the bottle, "..Then you guys could probably invent anything my brain comes up with."  
Stacie's eyes widen in shock, "Are you serious?"  
"Yes, I'm serious. I know a good thing when I see it." Amy answers, knowing this little liquid wasn't just going to be something that could be used for fun, she could see this genuinely helping people in the future.  
"You have a very bright future, Stacie Conrad, and I want to see what you make of it." Amy smiles, "I also want another sandwich." Remembering the half eaten sandwich in her hand.  
She places the bottle down on Beca's desk and walks out of the room, eating the rest of her sandwich. Stacie looks at Beca, her mouth slightly ajar.  
"Did I just get a job as a scientist?" Stacie asks, not wanting to believe it.  
"Stacie, you just got a job as Willy Wonka!" Beca says, happily, hugging her excited friend.

…

True to her word, Amy had several contracts drawn up and delivered to each member of Stacie's lab team. Stacie couldn't believe it, she had already been offered a job and she hadn't even graduated yet. Not only did it pay really well, but her team would have their own lab in which to create Amy's crazy ideas. It wasn't changing the world type stuff, but she would be creating things that would be bringing joy to people and Stacie couldn't be mad at that. Her parents were absolutely thrilled when she rang them, they also came for visit to inspect her new creation. Her dad being a scientist himself, could not be anymore impressed with her and her team, saying in 20 years he couldn't have done what they did in 3 months. With this new sense of pride and confidence, Stacie and her team have been working around the clock on new ideas and developments.

"Stacie has been working herself too hard lately." Chloe pouts, as she wraps up a plate of food for her and places it into the fridge.  
"When's she's on a roll like this, you couldn't stop her even if you tried." Beca comments, as she finishes up the dishes, "Her first love will always be science."  
Chloe smiles half-heartedly, "I guess, I just don't want her to burn out."  
Beca smiles warmly, she was also concerned that Stacie could burn out, but she knew better than to interfere with her work. Stacie would know when to pull up and take it easy.  
"She'll be ok. Besides, it's been really nice just being the two of us at home." Beca says, somewhat awkwardly and blushing.  
Chloe insides turn to mush as her girlfriend still got nervous around her. Whenever they talked up cuddling or being intimate, Beca would still blush heavily. Chloe couldn't get enough of it.

"Becs, we've been dating for over four months, why are you blushing?" Chloe snorts, though walking up behind her and wrapping her arms around her middle.  
Beca blushes worse, "I don't know." She mutters, though loving the feeling of Chloe holding her.  
"You're so adorable." Chloe mumbles, as she she leans in and kisses her neck.  
Goosebumps erupt all over Beca's body at the touch of Chloe's lips. She prays this feeling never goes away, because Chloe made her feel fantastic. Beca hurriedly washes and dries her hands, before turning to face Chloe. Even though she could feel her face burn, the rest of her body burned with desire. She lent in and kisses Chloe, wrapping her arms around her as well. Chloe tasted sweet as Beca nips at her bottoms lip.

"Shall we move somewhere more comfortable?" Chloe whispers, huskily.  
Beca nods smiling, letting Chloe lead her to Beca's room. The two women giggle as they fall into the bed. Chloe throws off her top.  
"Your boobs are amazing." Beca says, seriously.  
Chloe snorts, "You say that every time you see them."  
"That's because boobs of this nature should always be told how amazing they are. Because they are seriously amazing." Beca says, grinning, but staring at Chloe's boobs, with a light flush in her cheeks.  
Chloe laughs again, "Jesus Beca, are you a boob connoisseur or something?"  
"What can I say, I'm a boob man!" Beca shrugs, still blushing.  
"You're ridiculous." Chloe laughs, leaning in and kissing Beca.

Despite Beca's continuing awkwardness, they always had fun in the bedroom and didn't take it too seriously. They always ended up laughing between making out and orgasms. But one thing Chloe couldn't help but adore was the fact Beca always made sure that Chloe was comfortable. With all the horrible things she went through with Tom, Beca made her feel so loved and wanted. Even with Beca blushing and always being detracted by her boobs, Beca was extremely attentive and sensitive to her needs.  
"You smell amazing." Beca mutters, moving down and kissing the nape of her neck.  
Chloe sighs happily, running her fingers through Beca's hair, tugging it slightly.  
"I love when you do that." Chloe moans, letting herself get lost in her lust.  
"Well, if you'll let me, I'll happily live here." Beca jokes, stopping for a moment.  
Chloe giggles, "Don't tempt me, Becs. I'd seriously let you."

Chloe pulls Beca back up to her mouth, kissing her deeply. Beca lovingly runs her hands up Chloe's waists and pulling her closer. Goosebumps start breaking everywhere Beca touches on Chloe's body. She had never felt this way with anyone she had slept with. She had always enjoyed sex and had always thought it was fulfilling, but there was something about being with someone who treated you with such a huge amount of love and respect. Even when they were being rougher, Chloe always felt safe and loved. She pulls back from their kiss and looks deeply into Beca's eyes, the stormy blue eyes burned with desire and passion.  
"I love you, Beca." Chloe says, really needing Beca to know that her feelings weren't just one sided, that she wanted Beca as much as Beca wanted her.

Beca's mind just stops, everything stops. Somebody loved her, somebody loved her back. Beca looks at Chloe, her eyes widen in shock. They hadn't been together very long, and while Beca knew she felt this way for Chloe, she never thought Chloe would be there yet. Chloe knew Beca didn't put her heart out very often, if ever, because how love destroyed her parents marriage.  
"Sorry…" Chloe laughs, nervously, "I know that came out of nowhere, but I just really wanted you to know that you make me so happy and you make me feel so loved. I want you to feel the way you make me feel."  
Beca continues to stare at Chloe in shock, letting her mind catch up with all the current information. Chloe starts to get a little worried, Beca seemed too stunned to speak.  
' _Shit! Did I break her?'_ Chloe thinks, getting a little freaked out she may have said it too early.

"Are you ok?" Chloe asks, tentatively, "I didn't mean to freak you ou…"  
Chloe's words were cut off as Beca suddenly kisses her. She kisses her with as much love and passion she could muster. Beca was always too scared to put herself out there, so nobody had ever said that her to before. This woman, this woman beside her, she loved Beca.  
"I love you too." Beca breathes out, stoping her kiss for a moment.  
A huge smile spreads over Chloe's face, grabbing the back of Beca's head and bring her back in for a kiss. They were both happier than they had ever been, what could go wrong?


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you're all still with me. I get the feeling that this chapter might be halfway. After some brain storming with RJRMovieFan, my story keeps getting longer and longer. So, I hope you all are ok with that. But buckle up, its going to get a little rocky. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **2 Months Later**

Beca stands out the front of Amy's newly renovated building. From the outside you couldn't tell it was a club, in fact, it looked like the first level was a restaurant. Beca enters through beautiful glass doors and sees two elevators to her right. Beca continues through the small lobby area and through to the first level. Her eyes struggle to take everything in as she looks around at the room. The room was filled beautiful gold fixtures and large crystal chandeliers. Lush red carpet covers the floor and plush black velvet chesterfield chairs at every table. The place looked like a very luxurious place to eat.  
"Half-Pint, so glad you're here!" Amy yells from the kitchen, "Come here and taste this."  
Beca makes her way through the restaurant, looking at all the beautiful flourishes and decorations on the tables and around the room. It was such a fancy looking restaurant, not at all what she was expecting from Amy. She was expecting something, well, different. Not that this restaurant wasn't amazing, but she had seen at least 20 just like it. Beca couldn't help but wonder what was going to make it special.

Beca enters the kitchen to see a small Asian woman whizzing around the kitchen and several dishes already plated on the big sliver table in the middle of the kitchen.  
"Hey Amy, what's going on?" Beca asks, since Amy called her an hour ago to come down and meet her.  
Until now, the building had been off limits to everyone but Amy's contractors and designers. That's why Beca had been expecting something different.  
"Taste this." Amy says, literally shoving food into Beca's mouth.  
"Umff!" Beca pulls the folk out of her mouth.  
Suddenly, a delectable taste fills her mouth. She thinks it must be some kind of chocolate cake, though she wasn't quite sure. There was a flavour that she couldn't quite pick, though she wasn't mad about it.

"Wow, this delicious. What is that?" Beca says, swallowing.  
"Chocolate and bacon cake." Amy grins, a little evilly.  
"I'm sorry.. what?" Beca frowns, surprised.  
"Experimental food!" Amy shouts, throwing her hands in the air.  
"Amy." Beca sighs, knowing Amy could fall into a tangent anytime now.  
"You thought the restaurant was standard, didn't you?" Amy smirks, reading Beca.  
"Um.. yeah, a bit. It's really gorgeous, but it looks fairly normal." Beca says, not wanting to disappoint her friend.  
"Exactly!" Amy says, pointing at Beca, "Not a place where you would be expecting experimental food."

Beca frowns, it wasn't the first restaurant she had been to that did experimental dishes. It was becoming a trend.  
"I guess, but there are lots of places that do experimental food." Beca responds, awkwardly.  
"Ah, but do they have Heston Blumenthal's former apprentice as their chef?" Amy asks, pointing at the small Asian woman running around the kitchen.  
"I didn't know he took apprentices." Beca mutters, looking over.  
"Lily, come here?" Amy asks, nicely.  
The small woman shuffles over to the the two women. She was quite expressionless and simply stared at Beca, making Beca very uneasy.  
"Lily here, has been studying with Heston for six years. Her dishes are not just experimental, they are polished. So they won't be something random, that's thrown together and doesn't work. Her food tastes incredible and the look ridiculously amazing." Amy exclaims, about the quiet woman's food, "How many experimental dishes have you actually liked?"  
"Oh..um.." Beca thinks hard, she had done a few and had been very disappointed with most, "Not many, most of them were trying to hard to be different."  
"Exactly!" Amy shouts, "Lily's food can look a little weird, but it always tastes incredible."

Beca looks at the other dishes, some looked fairly normal, others were eccentric pieces art and one looked like a garden had bloomed in it. Beca had to admit, she hadn't seen food quite like this. A part of her really wanted to taste some of them.  
"You're very talented, Lily." Beca comments, looking at her, "Where do you come up with your ideas?"  
"I cook food to fill the void of my overwhelming blood lust." She murmurs, so quietly that neither woman could figure out quite what they heard.  
Beca looks at Amy, who looks at Lily with a small amount of concern and apprehension.  
"Ahhhh….." Amy says, deciding if she should ask Lily to repeat herself, but decides not too, "Come on, Beca I'll show the rest of the place."

The two exit the kitchen, both a little unnerved by the quiet chef.  
"Did she say something about blood lust?" Beca asks, mumbles, looking over her shoulder.  
"I wouldn't worry about it." Amy says, though sounding a little worried.  
They walk back through the restaurant, Beca giving small amounts advice on the décor. Little changes Amy could make to make it unique. Amy listens with rapt attention, she couldn't deny that Beca had an eye details. They enter one of the elevators, it was just a luxurious as the restaurant. Plush red carpet and black quilting on the walls with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  
"Consistent." Beca smirks, amused.  
Amy grins, "What can I say, I have expensive taste."  
Amy puts a key into the elevator to unlock the second floor. This peaked Beca's interest.

They enter the second floor, it was clear this floor would be off limits to the public. It was Stacie's laboratory, it was full of beakers, test tubes, colourful liquids and a lot of things that were giving off smoke or steam, Beca wasn't too sure. Either way, Beca got the feeling she shouldn't touch anything, so she quickly stuffs her hands into her pockets.  
"This is where Miss Smartypants and her team bring my ideas to life." Amy says, as they walk further into the lab.  
"Is it safe to have it between the two floors?" Beca asks, apprehensively, knowing Stacie has blown a lot shit up.  
"Yeah, I'd be more worried about Lily destroying the building than these guys." Amy admits, "Besides, they don't just develop the stuff I want, they've become my hunters of sorts."  
"What do you mean?" Beca asks, interestedly.  
"If it's already invented, it's here the next day. These people know where to find everything." Amy remarks, impressed.

They finish touring the lab, and head up to level three. They is the level Beca had been most interested in. The one that Amy said would blow her mind. With all the stuff she's seen in the last ten months, it would have to be pretty fantastic. As the door opens, Beca is hit with a sight beyond anything she could have imagined. It was like she stepped into wonderland itself. The room looked like a garden, with grassy floors and mushrooms for stools and vines of flowers growing on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. To the right was a giant clock on the wall, with a large platform with beautiful lounges and a private bar, the platform rotated depending on what time you set the clock too. Beca could see that was a VIP area. The main bar looked more like the science lab than a bar. It was full of colourful tubes and whirling machines, it truly looked like a scene from Harry Potter. Beca wouldn't have been surprised if something came floating past her head.  
"Wow." She whispers, in awe.  
Amy smirks, she knew she'd get Beca on this level. It was like a secret garden that double as a bar and dance club. It was very well lit, so you could see all the interesting things that were growing or hiding around the place.  
"Welcome to the fantastical world of Amy." She remarks, spreading her arms wide.  
"It's like wonderland and Willy Wonka's factory had a baby." Beca marvels.  
"Oh good, you get it." Amy smiles, impressed, "With a splash of Harry Potter, right?"

Amy winks at Beca as she point to the dance floor that Beca didn't even see at first. Suddenly, the smoke machines turn on, filling the floor with a fog giving the room an even more fantasy vibe. Beca breaths deeply and smells Chloe's shampoo. It had to be Stacie's perfume she made.  
"Wow, it works in the smoke machine!" Beca gasps, amazed.  
"Imagine it, you're dancing to a DJ or a house band and the floor fills with smoke. And all you smell is your most favourite thing in the world." Amy says, sounding like she was trying to sell her something.  
"Sounds pretty amazing to me, I'd be in a really fantastic mood." Beca says, nodding.  
"Exactly! If you come here, it's to have fun and feel good! Not just to get wasted! I want people to create memories!" Amy exclaims, so excited.

Beca had to admit, she was impressed beyond all reason. She had never stepped foot in a place like this before and she had a feeling this was going to be the hottest new place in New York. Amy ushers her over to the bar, serving her a beautiful drink. It was pale pink and when stirred it gave a mother of pearl type sheen to it.  
"I'm very impressed, Amy. I'll be happy to take pictures today and feature you in an up and coming article." Beca says, sipping her drink, which was an explosion of fruity flavours.  
"Well thank you Beca, but you know I didn't ask you to come over today to get an article out of you?" Amy says, seriously.  
Amy had genuinely come to like Beca very much, the same with Stacie. They were both very cool people, with enormous talents. But they were also very nice people and helped Amy without a second thought. She was very grateful to the both of them.  
"I know, but if I can help, why not right?" Beca shrugs, making out that it wasn't that big of a deal.

The two sip they drinks, Beca marvelling at the way her drink looked.  
"So how are you and Red going? I don't think I've ever seen her this happy." Amy remarks, with a smirk.  
Beca smiles coyly, "Good. She's an amazing person and I'm lucky to be with her."  
Amy grins evilly, "So she's good in bed! I knew it!"  
Beca nearly spits out her drink, sometimes she forgets Amy has zero filter.  
"What? You must be good in bed too, she doesn't smile that big for me!" Amy giggles looking at the opened mouth gape coming from Beca.

...

Opening night came a few weeks later and thanks to Beca's article, there was an incredible amount of buzz for Amy's club. Even though 'The fantastical world of Amy' was a fitting name, it wasn't as catchy as it could be. Amy renamed it 'Memories' as it was a place that had already created so many memories for her and she wanted her place to help create new ones for others. All of Amy's friends were there and some of her family even flew in. Beca was able to invite a heap of her co workers and now that Stacie had graduated, her and her team were there celebrating their new jobs as full fledged scientists. Even Aubrey came, though she was still looking a little worse for wear, luckily everyone had the good graces not to mention it.

Beca had taken her spot on a particular comfortable mushroom at the bar, being obsessed with the shiny drink Amy gave her a few weeks before. Beca was happy to sit and watch the party, not being much of a partier herself. The room was still well lit, except the dance floor, which had been dimmed. Beca happily sips her drink when a sullen Aubrey drops down onto a mushroom stool next to her.  
"Hey Aubrey." Beca says, happily, letting her pretty drink control her emotions.  
"Hmph." Her eyes seem to be locked onto something.  
Beca follows Aubrey's hard gaze to see what she was looking at. Beca's eyes land on Stacie, who was having a marvellous time with her science team. Uni looked to be very mesmerised by Stacie this evening, laughing at everything she said and not being able to look away from her. Beca knew from experience that Stacie had zero interest in her science friends, despite their many efforts.

"Oh, they look happy to be employed." Beca grins, happily.  
"He looks happy about something else." Aubrey mumbles, furiously.  
Beca could tell even from here that Stacie had no clue that Uni was looking at her any differently than he normally would. She was just there to have fun and nothing more.  
"Uni's out of his league." Beca remarks, sipping her drink.  
Aubrey's eyes suddenly snap to Beca, "You think?"  
A tiny smile pulls at Beca's lips, as much as Aubrey annoyed her with her up herself attitude, she could see she was still wrestling with her inner demons. But by the sound of it, she could be finally winning.  
"Why do you care? I thought you's two decided to be friends." Beca asks, raising an eyebrow.  
Aubrey sighs heavily, "We did."  
"You're going to get tired of fighting yourself one day, Aubrey." Beca says, draining the rest of her drink.

"Since when do you care about what I'm fighting?" Aubrey sneers, sourly.  
"Jesus Aubrey, you might be a pain in my arse, but you're my friend now, sort of. And as your sort of friend, it's hard to see you torturing yourself for the sake of your family name." Beca spits, before turning to the bartender and ordering another drink.  
A series of emotions runs through Aubrey, as she stares at Beca. They hadn't really ever gotten on very well, but she could always count on her to be completely honest with her. No matter how hard it was for her to hear. The two remain silent for a while, Beca only making noises of enjoyment as she sips another shiny drink.  
"I saw you a few weeks ago." Beca says, "Walking past the library."  
Aubrey's eyes widen in shock, she didn't tell anyone she was coming to New York. She thought she wouldn't be seen because the city was so huge.  
"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" Aubrey asks, concerned.  
Beca sips her drink again, "No, what you do is your business."

Aubrey breathes a sigh of relief, she wasn't ready to tell her friends why she was there, not until it was the right time. She had made a lot of decisions but she wasn't sure if she was ready to commit to those decisions yet. She looks at Beca, her cheeks were rosy and she had a blissful grin on her face.  
"I have a feeling you won't remember me telling you this, but I was here to take the bar." She admits, hoping that Beca was drunk enough.  
Beca's raises her eyebrows in surprise as she takes another sip of her drink.  
"Wow, how did you do? Are you a kickarse lawyer yet?" Beca asks, interestedly, sounding like the alcohol was starting to hit her.  
Aubrey smiles at Beca's drunkenness, "Not yet, I find out in a few weeks."  
"Nice! You'll be a kickarse New York lawyer in no time." Beca shots her a finger gun.  
"You're so drunk." Aubrey chuckles a little.  
"Pfftt nah, I'm just riding the wave of the shiny pink drink." Beca retorts, swaying a little, "Lets get you one."

"No Beca, I'm ok.." Aubrey says as Beca swings around on her mushroom stool and signals for the bartender to come over.  
"Can I get another shiny pink drink for my uptight friend please?" Beca asks, very politely, really not realising how drunk she was becoming.  
The bartender sighed exasperatedly at Beca, "For the eighth time, Miss Mitchell, it's called a Shimmering Pearl."  
"Yes, one of those!" Beca slaps the bar, "Please and thank you!"  
The bartender rolls his eyes, but walks away smirking, bringing back the drink a few minutes later. He hands it to Aubrey, who smiles apologetically.  
"Are you happy, Beca?" Aubrey asks, holding the drink.  
"I will be when you take your first mouthful.." Beca leans in close and whispers, "It's going to blow your freakin mind!"  
"It looks like someone melted down a pearl and put it in a cup." Aubrey looks at the drink apprehensively, but takes a hesitant sip, "Oh! It's fruity!"  
Beca nods, winking at Aubrey, as if she now understood. What that was Aubrey would never know.

…

Beca nurses a large hangover as she enters her office. With dark shades on she gingerly sits at her desk groaning at the amount light that was in her office. Beca couldn't believe she got hammered off a bunch of fruity pink drinks the night before. Thankfully she remembered everything she did, which was only sitting at the bar talking to the bartender and Aubrey for a small period.  
"Beca!" Dean shouts, jumping out from behind her.  
Beca winces, "Jesus Dean!"  
"I can't believe you got smashed off pink drinks." Dean laughs, swinging into an empty seat beside her.  
"I'm going to have to talk to Amy about the amount of alcohol that's in them." Beca grimaces, "I couldn't even taste it."

Dean smirks, he knew Beca could hold her alcohol fairly well, having been seen her drink on many after work drinks. Who knew all it would take to knock her over was a fruity pink drink?  
"The drink was very intriguing, though. So shiny and shimmery. The whole place was so interesting to look at and touch." Dean remarks, "The article you posted about Memories has gotten a lot of buzz."  
Beca gingerly looks over to him, "Really?"  
"Yeah, its such a unique concept. With the experimental restaurant downstairs and a fantasy world upstairs, people are commenting like crazy." Dean says, impressed.  
"Well, I can't take credit, it's Amy's place." Beca lays her head on the cold desk.  
"Yeah, but again, you've found the new it thing! Bec, you're finding all these awesome places and they're now trending because you found them." Dean exclaims, excitedly, "That's so awesome!"  
"Yaaayy." Beca says, unenthusiastically.

Dean snorts at her, "Well, besides your poor appearance this morning, you've been nothing but professional and have exceeded my expectations."  
Beca smiles, but not letting her head off the table, "Thanks Dean."  
"I think your one year review will go extremely well." Dean says, happily.  
Beca's hungover brain takes a second to register what he was talking about. But once the information finally reaches the correct parts of her brain, she realises it had actually been a year.  
"Holy shit, it's been a year." She lifts her head up, wincing at how fast she did it.  
"Yeah Bec, the board is really happy, so I think it'll go really well." Dean grins, sounding like he knew something she didn't.  
"You think?" Beca asks, now starting to get nervous.  
"Of course, and between you and me, you should think about updating your passport." He says, winking at Beca, before getting up and leaving.  
' _Uh oh!_ ' Beca thinks, feeling very conflicted.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes: Hey Guys, I think I'm finally getting closer to writing the ending. But I hope all of you are ok with a potentially 30 chapter story! The next two chapters won't be as funny as normal, I've got to work in some story development. But I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on them. I have a lot of twists and turns planned in up coming chapters, so I hope you are all still with me! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **2 weeks later**

Aubrey walks into a small coffee shop on 8th, thankful it wasn't busy. Her mind was full of thoughts and her body full of nerves. She got an email two days ago that her results from the bar exam were ready. All she had to do was log on and see if she passed. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She flew back to New York in secret, hoping that once she was there, she could build up enough courage to do so. She orders herself a coffee and moves to find a table. As she walks toward an empty table, a familiar sullen sight stops her. Aubrey frowns as she sees a miserable looking Beca sitting on her own at the back of the café. Something seemed off, just two weeks ago Beca couldn't have been happier. Laughing and drinking with her friends and now she seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Is this seat taken?" Aubrey asks.  
Even as much as Aubrey tried to hate Beca, Beca had proven continually that she was a good person. While Aubrey could admit they'll never be good friends, she could at least try being nicer. Beca looks up and is surprised at who she sees, Aubrey appeared to look just as down as Beca felt.  
"Hey" Beca says, nodding towards the empty chair.  
"You're looking gloomier than normal." Aubrey says, sitting down.  
Beca let a small smile grace her lips for a second and nodded at Aubrey.  
"You were right." Beca says, staring at her coffee.  
The statement surprises Aubrey, something big must have happened for Beca to say that.  
"You know I'm usually right about most things, so please refresh my memory." Aubrey smirks, enjoying the fact she was right about something.

Beca sighs heartedly, "Tomorrow I'm going in for my one year review."  
"And?" Aubrey asks, with a raised eyebrow.  
"My boss couldn't be more delighted with my work, he says the board members are thrilled and if all goes well, I'll be getting a promotion." Beca says, heavily.  
"I thought that's what you wanted." Aubrey says, before thanking the waitress for her coffee.  
"He also said that I should update my passport." Beca says, looking utterly miserable.  
"Oh." Aubrey now realising why Beca was upset.  
The argument they had when they first met comes back to her, she remembers how she yelled at Beca for wanting to travel the world and if she got promoted she would just be leaving Chloe behind.

The two sit in silence for a moment, Aubrey now feeling guilty about the stuff she said back then. She could now see just how torn up Beca feels about it.  
"Have you told Chloe?" Aubrey asks, taking a sip of her coffee.  
"Yeah.." Beca sighs, "She couldn't seem more thrilled, as does Stacie and Amy. I don't think they quite understand what me being promoted could mean."  
"Chloe ever the optimist." Aubrey sighs, shaking her head, "But still, you should be proud. You've done a really great job with the blog and that must count for something."  
Beca looks at her surprised, Aubrey didn't hand out complements very often.  
"Thanks Aubrey." Beca says, smiling, "Wait… how do you know I did a good job? Do you read my articles?"  
Aubrey blushes, "I may have perused them from time to time."  
"Just admit it, Posen, you like me!" Beca smirks, causing Aubrey to glare at her.

Feeling a little lighter, Beca decides to change the subject, "Have you gotten your bar results yet?"  
Aubrey looks at Beca surprised, she was sure Beca would have been too drunk to remember that she told her that.  
"I…I haven't looked yet." Aubrey stammers, "I can't believe you remembered I told you that."  
"I wasn't that drunk." Beca scoffs, rolling her eyes.  
"Yeah right, you fell off your mushroom twice and all you were drinking were pink drinks." Aubrey smirks.  
"Yeah well, I do remember." Beca scowls, trying to forget how drunk those shiny drinks got her.  
"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" Aubrey asks, apprehensively.  
"Contrary to what you might have been told Aubrey, your business is your business. So no, I didn't tell anyone." Beca remarks, sipping her coffee.

The tiniest of smiles curls at Aubrey's lips, feeling rather touched that Beca kept her secret, proving once again that Beca wasn't a terrible person.  
"How come you haven't looked at your results?" Beca asks, finishing her coffee.  
"Because I'm coward." Aubrey admits, feeling defeated.  
"Wow! I never thought an independent woman like you would say something like that." Beca teases, making Aubrey snort into her coffee.  
"Yeah well, you know me.. full of surprises." She sighs, though amused by Beca's comments.  
Beca could see Aubrey was still fighting her own battle, ' _I guess we're both miserable today.'_ Beca thinks.  
"So if you pass, what are you going to do?" Beca asks, starting to wonder if that was the issue.

It was the question that has prevented her from looking at her results. If she passes, she can only practice in New York and she would have to move her for work. She would have to tell her father that she went against his wishes and tell him no to his future 10 year plan he had set out for her. But if she fails, she wouldn't be able to sit the exam again for a while and would have to tell her father that she failed his expectations.  
' _Maybe this is why Chloe and Amy want me to go to therapy._ ' Aubrey muses.  
"The thought scares me. I've trying my whole life to live up to unachievable expectation. If I pass, then I come here and live on my own terms." Aubrey says, sounding terrified at the prospect, "I'm not even sure how to do that. I can't ever call myself independent when all I've ever done is follow my father's plans for me."  
"And you don't want to do that anymore?" Beca asks, starting to think her own dad wasn't so bad.  
"No..no I don't…but old habits die hard." Aubrey sighs, heavily.

Beca could see Aubrey had changed a lot since she met her. It seems she used to put herself under a lot of pressure to please her dad, but now wants to break free. Beca could only commend her for that.  
"Do you want me to sit with you while you check your results?" Beca offers, hoping that might help.  
"You know Beca, you make it so hard for me to hate you." Aubrey shakes her head at Beca.  
"How can you hate a loveable person like me?" Beca smirks, as Aubrey throws her an emotionless look, "Come on, I thought we were having a moment?"  
"Moments over, stop smiling." Aubrey says, but opens her bag and pulls out her iPad, "Well, I guess nows a good a time than any."

Aubrey logs into her account and navigates through the website to find her results. Her breathing quickens and her heart races. She never thought she would be this nervous, but this moment only affected the rest of her life.  
"Whatever happens, Aubrey, you can still come here and live your own life. You know that right?" Beca says, seeing the apprehensiveness on her face.  
Aubrey looked up surprised, "I can..? I mean, yes of course I can. I totally knew that."  
Feeling comforted by Beca's words, the thought of her results weren't so terrifying anymore. She clicks opened her results and gasps. She looks over at Beca.  
"I passed."

...

Beca wanders through Central Park lost in her thoughts. On all accounts, she should be thrilled, beyond happy even. But she wasn't, her mind was in two places. She had a feeling this was going to happen.

" _Beca, Dean took a chance on you a year ago. We were apprehensive but you have proven that you are more capable than we ever thought possible." Said the first board member._

" _Not only do you find hidden gems and amazing experiences for our customers, but you back them up with the most stunning pictures." Said the second board member._

" _You've taken our small idea and made it your own. And it's the most visited part of our company's website." Said the third board member, "Our New York sales are through the roof!"_

What wonderful things they said, encouraging and supportive. They believed in Beca's ability to give their customers experiences from simply looking at her pictures or reading her words. What a nice company to work for, you put the hard work in and get rewarded. But it was the reward that had Beca conflicted, it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Something she could have only dreamed about. A year ago she would have jumped on it, but now, she's not so sure that's what she wants.

" _Beca, you have proven yourself more than capable to handle anything we throw at you." Said the head chairman, "We have incredible faith in your abilities, so we want to issue you a new challenge."_

A new challenge, that's how he phrased it. It couldn't have been more simple, they found a person who could inspire their customers to want experiences and create memories. Isn't that what she was all about? Capturing memories? What was she to do now?

" _Beca, we want to offer you a position as head writer and photographer for our new European blog!" Dean exclaims, excitedly, "You'd be stationed in London and you would be able to fly all over Europe!"_

Beca had never seen Dean so excited. Did he forget she had a life in New York? Yes she wanted bigger assignments, but she wanted to at least come home at the end of them. What was she going to do? Beca finds her favourite place in the park, a bench under a big oak tree. She slams herself down, furious at the world.  
"Two years! I'd be in London for two years!" Beca mutters, angrily to herself.  
She came home that afternoon to an excited Chloe and Stacie, bursting to hear the news. Beca had trouble even telling them.

" _I've been offered…a new role.." Beca mumbles, sadly.  
"Oh my god! Becs! That's so exciting!" Chloe shouts, so excited, "What kind of assignments are you going to be doing?"  
"Yeah Bec? What cities are you going to be visiting?" Stacie exclaims, excitedly.  
Beca looks between the two of them, they just didn't understand.  
"London.." she mutters, sounding distressed.  
Chloe and Stacie squeal with excitement, "London!"  
"Oh wow! That's so cool!" Stacie playfully shoves Beca, "My little hobbit is visiting the homeland of white people!"  
"How long is the assignment?" Chloe asks, with a giant smile._

 _Beca's eyes fill with frustrated tears, why couldn't they see? She was so torn up! Chloe suddenly frowns, finally noticing Beca's face.  
"Becs, what's wrong?" Losing her happy tone.  
"The assignment.. is for two years.. if I choose to accept it." Beca says, quietly.  
Stacie and Chloe's mouths drop, they couldn't believe it.  
"Wait? Are they wanting you to do that European blog thing, you were telling me about ages ago?" Chloe asks, suddenly remembering a conversation about it.  
Beca nods numbly, she had no clue what she was going to do. It was one thing to make your friends and girlfriend wait a few weeks to see you, but to wait two years? That was asking a hell of a lot._

" _But you said no, right? Two years, that's crazy!" Stacie says, feeling very overwhelmed._  
 _She always knew this day would come, but she never knew it would be this hard._  
 _"I haven't told them anything, I've been given a week to decide." Beca hangs her head._  
 _"But.. you're going to say no… right?" Stacie's cries, her eyes watering a little._  
 _She knew it was selfish of her, but she relied on Beca. They were a team, what would she do without her little buddy? Stacie looks at Chloe who seems just as stunned, what would happened to their relationship?_  
 _"I'm sorry…" Beca mutters, before running out of the apartment._

Beca sighs deeply, having at the very least calmed down a little. She hated seeing Chloe and Stacie so upset. It wasn't like she had made up her mind yet, but the fact that she hadn't said no right away meant that she was still seriously considering it. Beca stares out across the park, the sunset was a beautiful orange and red. It spread out over the city basking everything in its glow. As stunning as it was, the colour just reminded her of Chloe, which made Beca feel even worse. She loved Chloe so much, but this was her dream. Beca felt so overwhelmed, she didn't know what to do.

…

Beca sat there for hours, now staring into the darkness of the park and the glittering lights of the many buildings of New York. The only light near her was a park light that stood beside the bench she was sitting on. Her head hurt from thinking and her back ached from sitting on the bench. But she wasn't moving until she made up her mind. Even though she had a week, it wouldn't be fair to go home and not have an answer. The upset faces of Chloe and Stacie were still rumbling around her mind, making her decision harder. Beca sighs heartedly.

Suddenly, a beautiful black boxer came bounding towards her. Beca eyed the dog apprehensively, not a huge fan of animals that were the same size as her. The dog stopped at her feet, staring at her with its big brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light.  
"Hello." Beca says, uncertain.  
The dog's tail started to wag rapidly, but stayed seated. It was as if it knew Beca was concerned about it. Beca gingerly reaches out her hand and the dog sniffs it. The dog then pushes Beca's hand, wanting to be petted. Beca smiles a little at the sweet dog, but started to wonder whose it was. She looks at the tag attached to its collar. Her name was Bella.  
"Bella, huh?" Beca says, scratching the dog behind the ear, "Where do you belong?"

A minute goes by and Bella had rested her head in Beca's lap, seemingly very content. Beca inner turmoil starts to lessen as she feels the warmth from her new friend. Beca hears footsteps from behind her.  
"Bella, how many times do I have to tell you not to play with trash?" Comes hard grizzly voice.  
The voice make Beca's hair stand on end, she hadn't heard that voice in such a long time. Beca turns and sees a tall elderly man standing behind her.  
"Of course!" Beca snaps, "Of course you're here right now!"  
"It's not like I'm thrilled to see you either, Miss Mitchell." Grizzled Professor Dickens.  
Beca turns back to the dog whose head is still in her lap, the dog looks back at her wagging her tail.  
"If he's holding you against your will, blink twice." She says to the dog, earning a scoff from the man behind her.

"Bella, come here?" Professor Dickens says to the dog.  
The dog doesn't move, she just happily wags her tail as she stares up at Beca.  
"She's well trained." Beca smirks, patting the dog.  
"Hmph." He growls, crossing his arms.  
Professor Dickens walks around and sits on the bench, keeping himself as far from Beca as the bench would allow him.  
"So, what are you doing out here all by yourself in the dark?"  
"I can't imagine why you would care, but I'm thinking." Beca sasses.  
"I wasn't aware you were capable of such a task." The professor retorts.  
"Wow! You haven't change a bit!" Beca says, feeling an overwhelming urge to hit him with a bus, "You're still an arsehole."

The old man glares at Beca. He still detests her big mouth and vile attitude. He thought it was a shame that in almost two years nothing had changed.  
"I see your tongue is as sharp as ever." He growls, "I can't imagine how far in life you'll get with that!"  
"You know what, Dickens, I'm really not in the mood for you and your rude running commentary of my attitude and how I'll never amount to anything." Beca snaps, honestly wanting him to go away.  
The old man frowns, even with all the fights they had, Beca never seemed quite this angry at him. He always assumed she enjoyed arguing with him.  
"I never said you'd never amount for to anything." He mutters, feeling a very, very small twinge of guilt, "Maybe like a studio photographer at best."  
"Jesus! Can you stop talking? I have a very huge problem and you being here is not making it any better!" Beca shouts, before apologising to Bella for startling her.

"Is this about the promotion to London?" He asks, simply.  
Beca turns to him shocked, "How the hell do you know about that?"  
"Mr Walker informed me a few weeks ago that he was going to be offering you such a position." He explains, in a pompous manner.  
"Dean told you? But Dean hates you!" Beca was having trouble wrapping her head around it.  
"He does indeed. The only other student that I detest more than you." He says, expressionless, "However, I believe he rang me to gloat at how well you're doing despite my opinions of you."  
Relief floods Beca, that was the Dean she knew. A little bubble of pride warms her chest knowing her boss rang their former tormentor to gloat about how well she was doing.

"Are you going to take the job? Or is this why you're out here sulking?" He remarks, rudely.  
Beca rolls her eyes, she wasn't even sure why she was even discussing this with him. She absentmindedly stroked the dog that was still in her lap.  
"I haven't decided yet." She mutters, sadly.  
"What's holding you back? I seem to recall you wanting to be able to take pictures from every country you could." He frowns, remembering a term paper that he set for her years before.  
"I fell in love." Beca shrugs, feeling stupid even saying it.  
She wasn't ashamed of the love she felt for Chloe. But with her former professor being basically a fossil, she couldn't imagine him understanding that would be a good reason to not take the promotion. The answer surprises the professor, while Beca was always a little safe with her work, she was always head strong and generally up for a challenge. He never thought love could hold her back.

"I see. And is she more important than your dream?" He asks, suddenly very interested.  
"What the hell kind of question is that?" Beca glares at him, they were both equally important to her, "It's like asking someone to pick their favourite child! You can't do it!"  
The old man begged to differ, "Easy, my middle child. She's a hard worker, lives off her own money and calls me twice a week to see how I am."  
"Of course you could pick a favourite, but it's not so easy for everyone else!" Beca slumps back in the seat, sourly.  
"Miss Mitchell, I don't think this problem can be fixed by picking your favourite. If it was, you would have picked your significant other and been done with it." He says, as a matter a factly.  
Beca tilts her head in interest. As much as she hated him, when he was real with her, he always gave good advice.  
"I guess, you're right." Beca scratches her head thinking, "I can't believe I'm asking _you_ this, but what do you think I should do?"

"Beca.." Actually using her first name for a change, "Do you know how many people I have taught that have found their dream jobs in the first year out of school?" He answers her question with a question.  
Beca looks at him confused, "I don't know, 103?" Picking the first number that came to her head.  
"5!"  
"What? Are you serious? But you must have taught hundreds of students over the years!" Beca gasps, thinking that that number was far too low.  
"Indeed, and out of those hundreds, guess how many passed my class on the first try?" He questions again.  
"Surprise me."  
"5!" He says, to her bewildered face, "And you were one of them."

The revelation was somewhat astonishing to Beca. Out of hundreds of people, she was one of 5 people who passed his class and found a job in their desired field.  
"Why are you telling me this?" Beca asks, wondering why he was being so nice.  
"As much as it pains me to admit it, your talents are quite remarkable. Especially in you last year, something inspired you and made your work so much richer." He explains, remembering how her work improved vastly in her last year.  
Beca's stomach drops, "Well, it was my inspiration that I fell in love with. Her names Chloe."  
The old man's eyes widen slightly, obviously not expecting that admission.  
"You're a lesbian?"  
"Jesus! That what you got from that?" Beca groans, glaring at the old man.  
He shrugs not caring, "Love's a funny thing, Beca. It finds you when you least expect it and if it's truly real, it will defy time. Even if you're apart."

Beca could not have been more weirded out by the beautiful sentiment that just came out of her crusty old professor's mouth.  
"What do you know about love?" She squints, not believing he knew much.  
"A lot, as a matter of fact." Professor Dickens says indignantly, "I've been married for 41 years to the same woman."  
"Did she do it willingly?" Beca smirks.  
"It still surprises me everyday. However, what I'm saying is, if it's meant to be it will be." He huffs, "Opportunities like London don't come around everyday and as much as it pains me to admit it, you're perfect for this job."  
Beca looks surprised, before, "Because you're a simpleton and running around a historical continent and writing about it should be easy work for you."  
"There he is, for a second I thought you might be having a stroke." Beca retorts, sassily.

Professor Dickens stands up, seemingly done with the conversation.  
"Bella, now." He points to his feet, she growls at him and looks to Beca.  
He rolls his eyes, "She can't take you even if I gave you to her, she's moving to London. Now come on."  
Beca looks down at the sweet dog, giving her another pat.  
"Maybe in another life." Beca says, before the dog sadly trots towards her actual owner.  
He leashes her properly, and begins to walk away, "I'd say it was nice to see you, but I'd be lying. Good luck in London."  
"Who says I'm even going?" Beca frowns, watching him walk away.  
He stops and looks over his shoulder, "You will, because you're too talented to not go."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Notes: Hey Guys, thanks for the awesome response on the last chapter. I love hearing what you think is going to happen next. We have a long way to go, so stay tuned! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **4 weeks later**

Beca wasn't sure how much longer she sat there that night. All she knew was when Chloe and Stacie found her, they were complete wrecks. They couldn't stop apologising, telling Beca they shouldn't stand in her way if she wanted to take the promotion. Though Beca could tell they were lying by the looks on their faces and she told them so. They spent another hour talking together before the decision was reached. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do, but Beca knew an opportunity like this wouldn't come around again. This would help her set up her life, if she could survive this, she would survive anything.

But leaving her loved ones was going to be hard. Beca knew Stacie and she would be ok, they had years together and no matter how far apart they would be, nothing would come between them. But Beca wasn't so sure about her and Chloe. Beca loved Chloe so much, but wasn't sure their relationship could handle two years apart. The thought had been tormenting her for the past few weeks. Beca wasn't sure they could survive long distance, a couple of month's maybe, but a couple of years was a lot to ask for. It wasn't fair on Chloe.

Beca stands at the end of her bed, staring into her half packed suitcase. She kept putting it off, not ready to leave. But seeing as she was getting onto a plane the next day, she had to pack. All she needed was to take her clothes and equipment. Her promotion provide her with a fully furnished apartment in the heart of London. Wasn't she lucky? Well that's what Dean kept saying. Beca didn't feel lucky at all, she just felt really depressed.  
"Hey." Comes a sad voice.  
Beca looks up and sees Chloe standing in her doorway.  
"Ah.. Hey." Beca says, awkwardly.  
Things hadn't been the same between them, even though Chloe told her it was ok to go. They had been putting off talking about it, but now it was becoming real, they had to have the talk. Chloe walks in and sits on Beca's bed, beside her half empty suit case. She looks into it sadly.

"I'm really going to miss you." She says, her voice starting to quiver.  
Beca could feel her heart breaking. She wanted to scream and tell Chloe to come with her. But that wasn't fair, she couldn't ask Chloe to move to a new city, in a different country and then make her basically live there on her own while she went off gallivanting across the continent.  
"I want to make this all better somehow." Beca groans, throwing the shirt in her hands into her suitcase, "It doesn't matter which option I take, I'm going to regret something."  
Chloe looks up at Beca sadly, it's not like Beca wants to leave her behind. She understood that a job like this didn't come around everyday. And she didn't want to be the reason that Beca didn't advance in her career. But it didn't make her feel any better to watch her girlfriend pack her bag to leave the country.

"It's going to be too hard, isn't it?" Chloe says, sadly, wrapping her arms around herself.  
Those were the words Beca didn't want to hear, yet she had been waiting to hear them. She had been struggling to say them herself. They both knew they couldn't survive two years apart while trying to stay together. Chloe couldn't afford to fly to London all the time and Beca didn't know how often she would be able to come home.  
"This sucks!" Beca sighs, heavily, throwing herself down next to Chloe.  
"Two years is a long time. Aubrey keeps telling me that it's not forever and that at the end of it we could work things out." Chloe smiles a little, "I'm not sure when she became a fan of yours, but she seems to think it'll work itself out."  
"That's Aubrey for you, just full of surprises." Beca mumbles, still having not told her friends that Aubrey would be moving to New York soon.  
Aubrey had made Beca promise to not say anything until she got a job. But with all of this hanging over Beca's head, she had completely forgotten all about Aubrey. It was nice to hear that she was finally rooting for her.

"Do you think we could work things out afterwards?" Chloe asks, her big blue eyes peering into Beca's soul.  
Beca wanted nothing more to know that at the end of two years, that she could come home and they could pick things up we're they left off. But Beca was realistic, those kinds of things only happened in stories.  
' _This is real life, Beca!'_ she scolds herself, ' _Nobody is going to write you a happy ending! Life doesn't work that way.'  
_ "Is that even possible?" Beca asks, trying not to look at Chloe's eyes, "If we decide to…er.. pause things.. I don't want you to have to wait around for me. What if you meet your soulmate?"  
' _If only she knew._ ' Chloe thinks sadly.  
"Ok, if we.. pause things.. do we say we can date other people? What if you meet some European princess that sweeps you off your feet?" Chloe says, though wanting throw up at the thought of Beca dating someone else.

Beca snorts, laughing for the first time in weeks, "I highly doubt there will be any European royalty interested in this." Pointing at her small body.  
"And why not?" Chloe asks, savagely, "You have a lot to offer! Any princess would be lucky to have to you!"  
Both women look at each other and start laughing. Suddenly the tension between them was starting to break. They could see what was going to happen, but were now trying to make sure they could find a way back if they chose too.  
"So, we pause things?" Beca asks, tentatively, after they stop laughing.  
"I guess that's better than saying we broke up." Chloe says, sadly.  
"Hey, it's not like we want this, but life and love… it's funny, you know. But if it's meant to be, it will be." Beca says, not believing she's quoting Professor Dickens.  
"And in two years?" Chloe's asks, softly.  
"If you haven't met your soulmate and I'm not married to a princess, maybe we could talk about dating again?" Beca offers, hoping that she would says yes.

Chloe knew she had already met her soulmate. If waiting two years for her to come home is what she had to do, then she would do it. Beca had changed her life and Chloe had been picturing a future together with her.  
' _I guess, I'll have to give her the ring in a few years time._ ' She thinks to herself, as her thoughts drift towards a secret ring box hidden in her room.  
"I would like that." Chloe says, earnestly, "We're still going to talk though… even if we're not together?"  
"Chlo, how could you even ask that?" Beca's eyes widen in surprise, "We were friends first and that's not changing."  
Chloe smiles bringing Beca in for a giant hug. Both women relish in its warmth, feeling comforted by that fact that they might become a couple again in the future.  
"I guess this is it then, we're on a pause? A time out? A break?" Chloe says, pulling back, trying to figure out what they were going to call it.  
"Damn, when did we become Ross and Rachel?" Beca mutters.  
"I call Rachel!" Chloe shouts, before laughing once more.  
"Oh come on!" Beca groans.  
While both woman were sad, they felt lighter having talked it out. What their futures held? They wouldn't know, but they could only hope their paths would cross again.

…

Walking through the international terminal, Beca could feel her old nervous feelings coming back. She couldn't help it, she was moving to a new country for two years. No friends, no family, just herself. It was enough to make anyone nervous. Although, Dean was flying over with her so she didn't go over alone. But, that was mainly because he flies between the two countries all the time, seeing as he's very high up in the company. It did make her feel a tiny bit better knowing that she wasn't flying there alone, but it was still nerve racking.  
"You ok, short stack?" Amy slaps her on the back as they walk through the airport.  
"Yeah." Beca sighs, "Just nervous and a little sad."  
"Gingy told me you guys decided to pause things." Amy says, feeling very sympathetic.  
Beca glances over her shoulder at Chloe, who was walking with Stacie.  
"Yeah." Beca sighs again, "I didn't want to. But it's for the best."

Amy frowns, she hated seeing her friends so sad. But there was nothing she could do to fix it. She puts her hand on Beca's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.  
"Still, this is your dream job." Amy tries to cheer her up, "It's going to be quite the adventure."  
"I guess. Maybe I'll feel different when I get there." Beca shrugs, sadly.  
"Come on, Beca! It's gonna be alright, we'll take care of Chloe while you're gone and after two years, you're gonna come back and open your own gallery. And you and Gingy will get married and have babies and live happily ever after." Amy says, trying to make Beca feel better.  
A little smile forms on Beca's lips, "Thanks Amy."

They four women stop at a café right by the doors to enter security. This is where she was to meet Dean and where she would say goodbye to everyone. The four of them sit down and order coffees, all of them very quiet. Nobody really knew what to say, so they just sat there staring at their hands. After getting their coffees and sitting for a while, somebody approaches them.  
"Well, aren't you all just a bunch of sad sacks." Says a voice.  
They all look up and see Aubrey.  
"Aubrey!" Said four voices, all equally shocked to see her.  
"What are you doing here?" Stacie asks, shocked.  
Aubrey smiled, "Well, I couldn't let the hobbit go without saying goodbye!"  
Amy, Stacie and Chloe all look genuinely shocked, but Beca gives a small smile.  
"Thanks Aubrey, that's really nice of you."  
"Yeah, yeah, don't get all sentimental on me." Aubrey rolls her eyes to pass over the nice moment, "But before we do say goodbye, I want to talk to you about something." Aubrey points outside the café, insinuating she wanted to talk privately.  
"Sure thing, Bree." Beca nods, standing up and following her back out into the terminal.

The other three women continued to sit there shocked. They had never seen Aubrey and Beca have a polite conversation, let alone hear Beca call her Bree.  
"That was weird, right?" Chloe says, feeling very startled.  
"Did we miss something? I don't remember something big happening that would have changed their relationship." Amy says, trying to figure out what her eyes were seeing.  
"Have we slipped into a parallel universe where Beca and Aubrey are friends?" Stacie frowns, tilting her head watching Beca and Aubrey converse excitedly about something.  
Suddenly the two women hug, Stacie, Chloe and Amy all let out audible gasps.  
"Oh my god! We're in the Upside down!" Amy gasps, clutching her chest dramatically.

Meanwhile, back in the terminal.  
"Chloe called me really late last night, she didn't know I was coming in this morning, but she said you guys sorta paused your relationship last night. Are you ok?" Aubrey frowns, sympathetically.  
Beca sighs, "Well, I've only cried once this morning, so what does that tell you?"  
"Sorry, Beca. I was really wrong about you two. You made an amazing pair and I'm actually really sad about this." Aubrey says, earnestly.  
"Thanks Bree, that means a lot to me. So, what did you want to talk about?" Beca asks, trying to ignore the tears pricking in her eyes.  
"Oh, right." Aubrey pulls out her phone, "Is this a good neighbourhood?"  
Beca looks at the phone and sees an address with a picture of an apartment building.  
"Yeah, a little more up market than our one, but it's really nice. Why's that?"

Aubrey lets herself smile broadly, she had really amazing news. Even though Beca and her aren't close, Beca had kept Aubrey's secret and loyalty meant a lot to Aubrey.  
"I was offered a job at a prestigious law firm." Aubrey gushes, happily  
"Oh my god! Aubrey!" Beca gasps, leaning in and hugging her, "That's amazing!"  
The hug took Aubrey by surprise for a moment, but she let it happen anyway. She was happy and Beca was feeling a little sad, so they both could do with the hug.  
"So, this is really happening! You're moving to New York." Beca says, pulling back, "How'd your dad take it?"  
Aubrey's smile drops a little, "As you would expect, I think I've been written out of the will."  
"Damn!" Beca says, disgusted.  
Aubrey shrugs, "It's hard, but I've never felt like this before. I'm embracing all the changes."  
"Good for you Aubrey. I'm just sad I won't be here to see it." Beca says, genuinely sad.

"I know, I am too, but I promise I'll take care of Chloe. We all will." Aubrey promises.  
"Thanks, but I don't want her waiting around until I get back. It's not fair." Beca shakes her head.  
"I'm not sure anyone will be able to control that. I think Chloe would wait a hundred years for you." Aubrey says, looking over at the thoroughly confused Chloe, "I've never seen her as happy as she was with you. One day you'll find each other again."  
Tears prick in Beca's eyes once again, feeling very touched by Aubrey's words. Aubrey leans in to hug her again.  
"And I'll legally destroy anyone who gets in your way." She whispers in Beca's ear, causing Beca to start laughing.

The two women walk back to the group with the arm around each other, laughing and Beca crying a little. As sad as Beca was, Aubrey made her feel a little better. The one person was wholeheartedly against her, was now willingly ready to destroy anyone who could potentially get between her and Chloe getting back together one day. That thought would be incredibly comforting to her for the next two years.  
"Well Beca, just don't go falling for any princesses, ok? I'm not sure Chloe could handle it." Aubrey mutters, as they enter the café.  
"I promise I won't." Beca laughs, wiping away her last tear.

Their group of friends seemed genuinely weirded out as they approach the table. None of them could quite figure out what was going on. But they had no time to dwell on it, as Dean Walker entered the café.  
"Good morning everyone! Lovely day for an adventure!" He smiles broadly, earning only glares from the five women, "Jeez, tough crowd!"  
"Sorry Dean, we're not really in a happy, down for an adventure mood." Stacie says, sadly.  
"Why not?" He asks, surprised.  
"Because I'm leaving the country, my family and my friends for two years." Beca snaps, a little.  
Dean blushes and backs away slightly, remembering Beca had been upset about taking the offer and how she was leaving her life behind.  
"Right! Right, right, right… sorry I'm being insensitive." He mutters, cowering under Beca's glare.

Aubrey looks around at the sullen faces of her friends, it made her feel bad that they felt so upset and helpless.  
"Come on guys, it's going to be alright!" Aubrey says, suddenly, trying to be the optimist, "The last year flew by right? Lil' ol hobbit here will be back before we know it."  
Dean snorts, "Oh my god! You do look like a hobbit!"  
All the women again glare at him, he cowers even further under their gaze.  
"Excuse me Mr Walker, but the term hobbit is for our use only. Am I making myself clear?" Aubrey says, in her best lawyer voice.  
"Yes Mamn!" He says, meekly.  
Beca wouldn't have been surprised if Dean hadn't just wet himself right there. Aubrey had a knack for scaring people, she was going to make a great lawyer. Aubrey sighs exasperatedly pulling back out her phone and shoving it into Dean's hands.  
"Here make yourself useful and get a photo of all of us." She snaps, in her uptight manner.  
"Why?" He asks, looking at the phone, he was somehow very oblivious this morning.  
For the third time in less than a few minutes, Dean had earned five glares at once.  
"Oh right.. She's not going to see you for a long time." He chuckles nervously, "I'm an idiot."

Dean snaps a few photos of them together, before they start to say their goodbyes. This was the hardest part of the whole thing for Beca, watching her loved ones look heartbroken as they knew it would be a long time before she saw them in the flesh again.  
"I promised I'll email and FaceTime and call all the time. It'll be like I never left." Beca says, frustratingly wiping away her tears.  
"I know Beca, and we'll do the same. Just stay safe, please!" Stacie says, with hints of worry in her voice.  
"Me? Stay safe? Would I do something risky? Come on Stace, you know I'll be safe." Beca says, grinning.  
"You're right, fine, please remember to eat! If I find out you've died from malnourishment or starvation, I will kill you!" She threatens, pulling her in for a hug, before whispering in her ear so the others wouldn't hear, "Just don't find a new best friend."  
Beca shakes her head, reassuring Stacie she wouldn't.

"Goodbye short stack! If you ever get into trouble, call me, I have friends everywhere." Amy says, suspiciously, before hugging Beca also, "Everywhere." Amy whispers in her ear.  
Beca pulls back, looking at Amy with weird expression, not sure to be comforted by that thought or not.  
"Um, thanks Amy." Beca says, a little unnerved.  
"Ok hobbit, we'll leave you guys alone for a bit. But do make sure you come home in one piece." Aubrey warns, giving her a quick hug.  
"I promise and um… Good luck." Beca says, sincerely, confusing everyone.  
"Thank you Beca, you too." She smiles, before signally everyone to leave and wait outside.

Beca looks at Chloe, who had be very quiet this whole morning. Chloe seemed to have a series of emotions running through her face.  
"Since when are you and Aubrey friends?" Chloe asks, seemingly the most important thing she needed to know before saying her goodbyes.  
Beca looks surprised and scratches her head awkwardly.  
"Oh..ah..That's a really long story. I get the feeling she'll tell soon." Beca says, still keeping her lips sealed about Aubrey.  
Chloe purses her lips and glares suspiciously. It was weird that Beca knew something about her best friend that she didn't.  
Chloe huffs, "Ok, if you don't want to tell me then. I'm only not going to see you again for about 730 days."  
Beca smirks, "The guilt trip isn't going to work, Chlo. She'll tell you when she's ready."  
Chloe sighs, "Fine!"

Beca sniggers, she was really going to miss Chloe's playfulness. She hadn't know Chloe for very long, yet she felt like she had known her for forever. She had changed her life so much since she took a simple picture of her three years ago. Who would have thought that Beca could have changed? Certainly not Beca. Yet, here she was with more confidence and pride than she had ever had in her whole life and she owed a lot of that to Chloe.  
"I guess this is it." Beca says, after a moment.  
"Yeah." Chloe says, sadly, slumping her shoulders forward.  
"Chloe… I won't ever stop loving you, you know that, right?" Beca says, looking into Chloe's eyes, trying to be as open as she can with her feelings.  
Chloe knew Beca didn't give up those kind of feelings easily, smiles warmly, letting tears fill her eyes.  
"I won't stop loving you either." She sniffs, flinging herself into Beca's arms, "I'm going to miss you so much, Becs!"

They stayed like that for a few minutes, not wanting to let the other go. Because once they did, it was over. No more Beca and Chloe, or Bhole as Amy put it. It would be just Beca in London and Chloe in New York. Two souls going their separate ways.  
They hear a throat clear, "Sorry.. Beca.. we have to go now." Dean says, very awkwardly.  
The two women reluctantly let go and walk out into the terminal. Beca struggles to hold her tears in. For once in her life, she was letting her emotions show. She was truly sad about leaving.  
"We'll talk to you soon, Bec." Stacie says, tearfully.  
"Promise." Amy nods, as she sniffs, Aubrey gently rubbing circles on her back.  
Chloe didn't say anything else, she was beyond words at this point. She knew Beca loved her and all she could do was hope and pray that one day they would be together again. Dean signals that it was time to go, they start to walk away. Beca turns back and waves at her friends one last time before entering through the security doors. She watches them for as long as she can before the doors close.

Once they do, she turns to Dean as they walk through security.  
"It'll be ok, kiddo. You're going to come back, I promise! And when you do, boy oh boy! Watch out world! Beca Mitchell will take you by storm!" He says, dramatically, trying to make her feel better.  
"Thanks Dean." Beca sniffs, hiding her eyes a little.  
"They love you Bec, they'll be here when you get back." He assures her, "I'll keep my eye on them until you do, ok?"  
She nods, feeling her throat tighten. It was going to be a long two years, no matter what anyone said. Beca just hopes she can survive it.

 **In the next chapter, a new adventure awaits…**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, Ahhh I'm sorry for the tears in the last chapter. If it makes you feel better, I cried a little when I was editing that chapter. But, we are starting a new adventure and I hope you ready. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **A few days later**

The flight to London went as well as it could. Beca barely said anything the whole flight and basically spent it curled up in a ball in her seat. Dean felt a little guilty most of the way, he had truly forgotten about Beca's girlfriend when he put Beca's name forward for the promotion. But he also knew she was the best for the job. Beca's natural ability with her photographs and her beautiful writing were an amazing combination. She was going to go very far.

 ***Knock Knock***

Beca walks through her new apartment to answer the door. The apartment itself was stunning. The kitchen, dining room and living area were in a huge open plan space. The kitchen alone, with its ample cupboard space and giant counter, was bigger than half of her apartment back in New York. With marble like tiles in the kitchen and dining room and plush cream carpet in the living room, it gave the apartment a luxurious feel. It was furnished with comfy couches, a beautiful dining room set, big tv and glorious decorations placed strategically around the room. The apartment came with two bedrooms, but one was an office. The place was one of the nicest apartments Beca had ever lived in. But it wasn't home.

"Hey Dean." Beca says, half-heartedly, as she opens the door letting him in.  
"Morning Bec!" Dean smiles, happily, "Are you ready to meet your new team?"  
"Sure." Beca shrugs, walking into her kitchen to finish her coffee.  
Dean sighs, "Come on Bec, I know you're sad at the moment, but when you get back into the swing of things, you'll be surprised at how quickly time will fly."  
Beca sips her coffee, "Sure."  
"Beca, you've been moping around for the last few days. I promise it's going to be alright." Dean says, trying to reassure her.  
Beca had literally been a depressed ball of sadness on her new couch since arriving. Dean was fairly sure that she only ate when he came around with food.  
"Dean, don't make promises you can't keep." Beca mumbles, into her coffee.

He knew there wouldn't be much that could cheer her up at the moment. But the fact that she was actually off the couch was a major improvement. She just needed a little time to adjust. Dean places a small, wrapped box on the counter, he had brought her something that could at least perk her up a little bit.  
"Well, I know things are going to be tough for a little while, but I got you a little something that will help you over the next two years." He says, pushing the small box towards her.  
Beca looks at the nicely wrapped box, Dean was trying so hard to make her feel better. He had been nothing short of an amazing boss and friend. Beca sighs, the least she could do was put a smile on her face.  
"Thanks Dean."

She opens the small box and discovers a new camera lens. It was one she had been wanting for ages, but had a hard time finding it.  
"Holy shit! Where did you get this? I tried looking everywhere for months for one." Beca exclaims, looking up at Dean.  
"I pulled a few strings." He smirks, happy to see more than sadness in Beca's face.  
Dean remembered Beca scouring the internet and New York City, trying to get one of these lenses. But to no avail, Beca was furious for a week that she couldn't get it. Beca looks up at her boss, he really believed in her. She couldn't let her sadness get in the way anymore, she made her decision and now she had to prove to herself the she made the right one.

"Thank you Dean." Beca smiles genuinely, "I'm sorry for the past few days, I know I've been nothing more than a depressed ball of sadness."  
"Have you?" Dean asks, in a shocked tone, "I've barely noticed."  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just saying, that as sad as I am, I'm really going to try and you know, brighten up a bit." Beca says, trying to sound at least a little excited about her new job.  
"It's ok, Beca. It'll take some getting used too, but you're going to do so well out here." He assures her, "A new adventure every few weeks, meeting people from all over Europe and seeing places that are centuries old. It's going to be amazing. Your passport is going to be so full after two years."  
His excitement was starting to seep into Beca, giving her a few butterflies. This was the dream, visiting different countries and finding its secret places and capturing its beauty. To take the pictures that nobody else could and share them with the world.  
' _Maybe it won't be so bad_.' Beca thinks, as she smiles at Dean's excited face.  
"Ok, you're getting me excited. Let me go change." Beca sighs at Dean's excited face, "Just don't expect me to be nice to everyone."  
"There she is! My half excited, half sarcastic employee." Dean smiles broadly, happy to see his friend coming back a little.  
"Yeah, yeah shut up." She mutters, walking off to her room.

…

The two enter a very large building not far from Beca's apartment. Beca's nerves started to kick in again, the enormity of the task finally hits her. She was the head of the blog, only answering to a guy who had the same level job as Dean. Dean assured her she wouldn't have to worry about about him to much. He was always too busy doing his own thing to worry about anyone else.  
"To be honest, he only got the job because his uncle is the CEO." Dean told her, "He's good at his job, but he likes himself a whole lot more."  
That worried Beca a little, Dean was a really cool boss. He was supportive, smart and took an interest in everything they did. Beca would really have to pick up a lot of slack if her boss was kind of lazy.

They walk into the office, Beca is comforted to see it looks exactly like the one in New York. At least she had something familiar in her life. They continue through the office towards a conference room, where Beca would be meeting her small team. It was weird that she would have people working for her. She had just done the blog on her own, but now there'll be three people under her. It was daunting.  
"Good morning everyone." Dean chimes, happily at the four people in the conference room.  
Beca came in and saw two women and two men. One very meek looking guy, who obviously didn't want to be near this many people and the other guy was blonde, blue eyes, very good looking and seemed to know it, Beca could only surmise that was her boss.

"Ah, Dean. How nice of you to finally show up." The blonde man says, rather arrogantly.  
"Luke, you should really learn how to tell the time, your watch isn't just a shiny accessory on your wrist. The meeting starts at nine and its only 8.45." Dean smirks, looking at his watch, "So, that means, we are fifteen minutes early." Dean says, dumbing it down.  
A dark look washes over Luke's face for a moment as he looks at Dean's smirking face. It was obvious the two didn't get along. Luke's eyes suddenly lock onto Beca. Beca started to get the feeling that he was starting to undress her with his eyes.  
"And you must be the famous, Becky? I am Luke Van Middlesworth." Luke says, giving her smile that made her uneasy.  
"It's Beca." She says, firmly.  
A year ago, Beca probably wouldn't have said anything and let it slide, but something about this guy didn't sit quite right with her. She got the feeling she may have problems with her new boss.  
"Right, well, same thing." He shrugs, dismissively, "I've heard such _amazing_ things about you. I would imagine you'll be doing the same here."  
"I'm going to try." Beca says, wondering what was with this guy.

Again, he smiled at her arrogantly and looked her up and down. Beca was starting to feel even more uncomfortable. Even Dean was starting to get a little concerned by the way he was acting, he steps slightly in front of Beca.  
"I'm sure you'll try your hardest, _Becky_. But first things first.." he says, pompously, "I don't know how things are back in the colonies, but here, we have a dress code to adhere too."  
"Again, it's Beca and what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Beca says, with a bite, looking down at her perfectly fine business attire.  
"Well you see, women in our building are somewhat more… how do I put this delicately? Feminine." He says, raising an eyebrow towards Beca's business pants.  
"Come on, Luke. That code is old fashioned and has never been enforced." Dean jumps in, now extremely annoyed.  
"This isn't _your_ building, Walker, so I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself. And _Becky_ , I expect to see feminine business attire in the morning. Am I clear?" He commands.

Dean goes to say something again, but Beca touches his arm. He looks at her and sees a familiar deviant smile on her face. He immediately pulls back, knowing Beca would handle this just fine.  
"Alright Larry, if those are the rules, so be it." She smiles, fluttering her lashes in the most feminine way.  
A few snorts and sniggers go around the room as they hear Beca call Luke the wrong name. The other three employees watched on in awe and amusement as their new boss took on Luke.  
"It's Luke." He growls, not liking his intimidation tactic being used against him.  
"Oh well, same same." Beca shrugs, smiling sweetly.

A few different feeling ripple through Luke as he gave the tiny woman a look up and down. There was something about her questioning his authority, it was new, but it still made him angry. He goes to reprimand her when somebody starts chuckling.  
"Ohh ho ho, she's going to liven up things around here."  
Everyone turns to see a jolly looking man. He had salt and pepper hair, with a thick moustache and rosy cheeks. He wore a three piece suit, but it was a bit tight around his pudgy middle.  
"Oh Beca, this is Warren Van Middlesworth, Travel Your World's director and CEO." Dean says, happily.  
The man smiles broadly as he reaches out to shake Beca's hand.  
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Beca. I am a very big fan of your work." He says, warmly, earning a scoff from Luke, "I am beyond delighted to have you join our team."  
Beca felt a little overwhelmed, she never thought she'd meet the CEO of the company. A little thought of something Dean said to her as the entered the building. Luke was this guy's nephew.  
"Thank you very much, Sir." Beca smiles, nervously.

"You're a lot smaller than I was expecting." He says, really taking her in, "The way Dean talks about you, made me imagine someone 6ft tall."  
Beca laughs, "I think Dean's been exaggerating a little."  
"No, no, he talks very highly of you, my dear." He chuckles, patting her hand, "He's a good man, our Dean. I've asked him a million times to come work over here permanently, but he always declines."  
"This way I get the best of both worlds." Dean laughs, sounding as though he's said it a hundred times.  
The jolly man turns back to Beca, "Miss Beca, are you ready to discover Europe?"  
"Yes sir, I'm very excited to take on this venture. And I promise to work very hard for _you_." Beca says, earnestly, though emphasising who she'd actually work hard for.

A little glint gives off in Warren's eyes, catching the little tone difference in Beca's voice. He was the one who campaign to have Beca come over and work in the London offices. Luke however, wasn't onboard. Warren had a feeling that Beca was going to shake things up around here and he was extremely delighted.  
"I hope so, my dear girl. And if you need anything you come and see _me._ " He says, with a tiny wink, "I think you and I are going to get on just wonderfully."  
Beca smiles warmly, this charming man reminded her of the old food vendors in Central Park. Very animated and kind, though this man was much more sophisticated. At that moment, a lot of Beca's nervous eased.  
' _Yeah. Maybe it won't be so bad._ ' Beca thinks, sighing a little.

…

After Warren, Luke and Dean left to go to a meeting, Beca was left to meet her team of three. There was a rather timid guy, a pretty blonde and a very young looking brunette. Beca still wasn't sure how she was going to go with people in her command, it's not like she's ever been that good with people. The young brunette jumps up, she had a huge smile on her face.  
"OMG! That was amazing! I've never seen anyone take on Luke like that before!" She gushes, extremely awestruck.  
"Oh..Is he always that pompous?" Beca asks, awkwardly.  
"Lord, he's usually worse. Honestly, after you called him Larry, I didn't know if he want to fire you or.." the brunette stopped, not sure if she should finish that sentence.  
"Fuck me?" Beca asked, guessing what she was about to say, the brunette nodded trying not to giggle, "Yeah, I caught that too. But thankfully, he'd have to fire me in that scenario.  
The three of them looked at her confused, Beca sighed, ' _Well, might as well get it out of the way now._ '  
"I'm a lesbian." She says, rather expressionless.

Crickets could be heard around the room for what felt like an eternity, but in reality is was like about 10 seconds. Suddenly, the guy and the blonde lit up and high five each other and the young brunette whooed very loudly and offered her own high five to Beca, who confusedly reciprocated.  
"This is amazing! Luke always sleeps with our female managers and then breaks their hearts. Then they leave and we have to get a new one. And now this won't happen! This is just so amazing!" She explains, suddenly hugging Beca, before pulling back, "Oh my gosh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Emily."  
Emily laughs at herself for forgetting. Beca gives her a half smile, wondering what she had gotten herself into.  
' _Wow! This chick has a lot of energy.'_ Beca thinks to herself, having never had this reaction to coming out.

"And this is Anthony." Emily points to the timid guy at the end of the table, "And this is Jessica."  
Jessica stands up to say something but gets cut off, "They don't talk much." Emily says, Jessica smiles and sits back down.  
"Um..ok." Beca frowns, bewildered.  
"They are IT for the blog. And I'm a translator." Emily smiles, proudly.  
Beca raises her eyebrows in surprise, "Wow, really?"  
Emily nodded, "Yep! I'm fluent in nine languages and dabble in a few others."  
"Holy shit!" Beca gasps, wondering how someone so young could know so much, "That's incredible, all I can do is point my camera and push a button."

"Please! You're Beca Mitchell! You have single handedly transformed the way our customers pick their holidays, and you are like totally famous around here." She says, over enthusiastically.  
Beca blushes hard, she didn't believe she contributed quite that much to company. What has Dean been telling these people?  
"Oh..Wow.. Thanks, I'm not sure I've done that much though." Beca mutters, scratching her head.  
"Oohh but you have. You're pictures are incredible!" She claps her hands together, closing her eyes as if remembering one of Beca's pictures, "I can only hope I can be even half as good as you one day."  
"You take photos too?" Beca asks, interestedly.  
Emily blushes, "I try, but I'll never be on your level though. But I can only keep doing my best."  
Emily was so complementary towards Beca, that Beca really wasn't sure what to do. Nobody had ever told that they aspired to be like her. It was a lot to take in.  
"Oh, um..Do you guys have some of your previous work I can look at?" Beca asks, trying to move the conversation onwards.

The group of three start presenting their work, showing what they have already started on for the new blog setup. Beca put her input in for slight changes but was blown away with other things that she would have never thought of before. She could honestly see how talented these three were. While her mind was still in two places on whether this was going to work, she was starting to be swayed to the 'it may work' side. It turned out that as quiet as Anthony and Jessica were, they were very good at finding unknown or hidden gems around the place. This would come in handy for Beca seeing as she didn't know London and Europe the way she knew New York. Beca started to breathe a sigh of relief, as sad as she was for leaving New York, she could tell she had a good team to help her with this new assignment. They were passionate and excited, just like Dean.  
"So, boss.." Emily starts again, with an excited grin, "What should we do first?"

…

 **4 months later**

Beca had really started hitting her stride and before she knew it, four months had flown by and suddenly it was halfway through March. Beca was simply to busy to be sad anymore. She spoke on the phone or face timed with everyone back home as much as she could. But she could tell it was still strained, she hear they were just putting on happy voices so Beca wouldn't feel bad. Though, she could tell the antics hadn't stopped since she left.

" _We're good Bec, and I promise I haven't blown anything up..yet. Just make sure you're eating regularly, ok?"_ Stacie says, to her all the time.

" _Shorty, we may have been right to be concerned about Lily. Now, I'm not saying that she killed a person… but…I'm not saying that she didn't either._ " Amy said to her on a random call extremely early one morning.

" _Hobbit, everything is fine. Though I may need to represent Amy's chef. Lord, that woman will give me grey hair, I swear._ " Aubrey said to her after Beca quickly rang her after Amy's strange call.

" _We miss you, Becs. But we're really proud of you."_ Said Chloe on one of the few calls they had.

Chloe's calls seemed to be few and far between. Beca couldn't blame her, they basically ended things. It's all well and good to say you'll stay friends, but they were both a bit broken hearted. Well, at least Beca was. It probably didn't help things for Beca that she put up her famous picture of Chloe in her bed room. But Beca couldn't help it, regardless of what happened between them, the picture gave her inspiration. She knew it was the thing that was going to get her through the next couple of years.

Beca got along with her team extremely well, mostly because Anthony and Jessica were super quiet and kept to themselves. Beca started to become quite close with Emily, although she was far to energetic for Beca's liking. They had kind of fallen into a mentor/mentee relationship. Emily looked up to Beca, despite Beca being a foot shorter than her. As well as things were going with her team, the same could not be said for her and her boss Luke. Beca being the smartarse that she is, decided to completely follow the dress code, but in her own way. During her first week, after Beca arrived in London, she came to work in her normal work clothes with an added item of clothing. She put the correct length skirt over the top of her pants. This infuriated Luke.

 _Beca walks through the office to her desk, hearing giggles and snorts as she goes by. Everybody paid attention to Beca as she puts her stuff down on her desk. Suddenly she hears a very angry voice from behind her.  
_ " _I thought I told you to adhere to the dress code!" He snarls, furiously.  
_ _Beca turns and smirks, "Oh but I am. You see, I'm wearing skirt no longer than my finger tips and shoes with a heel two inches or higher." She points to her ankle boots with a built in wedge heel.  
_ " _But you're still wearing pants!" He growls, looking down at Beca's strange ensemble.  
_ " _Yep! Because nowhere in the dress code states that I can't wear them under the skirt." She smiles sweetly, sitting at her desk, "I guess we could class them as loose fitting stockings."  
_ _The giggles erupt again, filtering through the open plan office.  
_ " _You are pushing your luck, Becky!" His eyes narrow, as he tries to keep his anger in check.  
_ " _Ok Logan, I hear your concerns and they are duly noted." She smiles again, turning her chair to her computer._

 _Luke's eye twitches, he couldn't figure out why he couldn't break this woman. She seemed no different to all the others.  
_ " _I will remind you that I am your boss, and you will respect me." He fumes, glaring at Beca.  
_ " _Not a problem, Landon." Beca says, pretending to only half listen, "I'll get right on that."  
_ _The giggles become louder, Luke's head snaps up to his employees. He had always had an intimating hold on all of them. This woman comes in and wrecks it in a few days. He leans forward, close to her face.  
_ " _I'd watch yourself, Miss Mitchell or you'll find yourself on a one way flight back to New York." He mutters, threateningly.  
_ _Beca turns and faces him, face to face, "Get a better threat, Levi. Because that sounds awesome to me."  
_ _A very deep laugh erupts from behind Luke, both him and Beca look up and see Warren Van Middlesworth. His round belly bouncing from his laughter.  
_ " _My my Luke, my boy, she's got you all figured out!" He continues to laugh, "That's one to Beca!"_

Warren changed the dress code after that week, much to the delight of all the female staff. Beca seemed to get on just famously with Warren. He liked her spunk and her 'take no shit' attitude when it came to Luke. He really only had him employed there because he was his only nephew and with him having no children of his own, someone would have to take over the business someday. Although, he was starting to regret his decision with hiring Luke. After four months in her new role, Warren couldn't have been happier with Beca's work. He knew she do great things within the company and she had a very big future.

…

Emily and Beca were staying late in the office one night. Editing and writing their articles from their recent trip to Rome.  
"Ok, we are finding hotels with better beds on the next trip." Emily moans, stretching out her back, "My back is still mess up and we've been back for a week."  
"They weren't that bad." Beca smirks, looking up from her laptop.  
"Speak for yourself, my feet hung over the bed!" She groans, twisting her back and getting a satisfying crack.  
"It's not my fault you're a giant, Emily." Beca shrugs, smiling.  
"You know, I have no idea how your friend Stacie puts up with you." She huffs, sitting down next to Beca.  
"That's a mystery to all of us." Beca admits, turning back to her laptop.

Beca and Emily go together on most of the trips, as Emily works as Beca's translator. They usually spend a week and a half in any given place, sometimes longer. They spent their time finding lots of hidden places or amazing experiences. They would spend a couple of weeks back in the office for writing and editing. The blog featured a city or country monthly rather than weekly. So Beca had to take twice as many photos because she had to write at least four articles per destination. Beca's had to start traveling with portable hard drives to back up her enormous amount of pictures she's been taking. The dream of one day opening a gallery may not be as far fetched as she thought now.  
"So, have you narrowed down where you want to go next?" Emily asks, stretching out in her chair.  
"I was thinking Amsterdam. Its a little closer to home and it's an extremely quirky place. I think it'll be fun." Beca says, thinking about all the unique experiences they could have.  
Emily goes a little pale, "Are we sure that's a great idea? I mean, Amsterdam has a…reputation."  
Beca snorts, sometimes she forgets how innocent Emily is. It was rather endearing.  
"Em, I'm not going to make you eat pot brownies and force you into the red light district." Beca laughs, "There's way more to Amsterdam than pot and ladies of the night."  
Emily chuckled nervously, "Of course…I know that.."

Beca shakes her head, Emily was still very young and uses the phrase 'Oh my stars!'. Beca always had to watch her mouth around her, wanting to not corrupt this innocent soul.  
"One of the places I want to go too is called Keukenhof." Beca says, smiling at Emily's confused face, "It's a series of tulip fields."  
"No way!" Emily's faces lights up, "I love tulips!"  
"I know, and we can ride bicycles around the fields." Beca says, making Emily squeal.  
"Oooohhh that sounds amazing!" She gushes, loudly, "Ok, you've convinced me."  
"Good, because there's a lot of cool places to explore there." Beca says, "But first we need to finish these current articles."

The women knuckle down editing their current articles and editing Beca's pictures. Beca loved that Emily had great insight and always voiced her opinions for little changes in Beca's writing. The articles were just getting better and better over time. Dean called Beca a few days before to tell her that the traffic for bookings for Europe were already spiking. He was beyond proud of her.  
"Oh, my laptop is dying." Emily says, "I'm just going to get my charger."  
Emily walks through the empty office off to her desk and ducks down to find her charger. While she was there, Beca continued working. Not noticing another person approaching.  
"Burning the midnight oil? Nice to see."  
Beca looks up and sees Luke, "Just doing my job, Ron. That what I'm paid to do."  
Luke bites his tongue as he hears Beca call him a name not even remotely close to his own. In four months he couldn't break Beca with his intimation tactics. He didn't like the idea of this blog being the reason the company was doing so well. He had put through so many ideas and they all failed. Maybe that's why he resented Beca so much. Nevertheless, he was determined to break Beca and get her out of his office. So he decides to resort to a tried and true tactic.

"You know, Beca, it's been four months. Maybe we should put this feud to _bed_." He says, with a charming smile.  
Beca is a little unsure of what was about to happen, Luke had just used her actual name for the first time. And the way he said bed was really starting to unnerve her.  
"What are you talking about, Jerry?" Beca asks, sweetly.  
Luke gives a strained sigh, "Ok, I'm sorry for using your name incorrectly. I was being a jerk."  
Beca raises her eyebrows in surprise, wondering how this was going to play out.  
"Now, could you please use my real name? Everybody keeps calling me something else everyday. It's driving me mental." He says, pretending to be stressed.  
Beca blinks at him, "Is that all you want?"

The corners of Luke's lips curl, ' _Time to work some magic!_ '  
"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we should get to know each other a little better." He croons, as he sits in Emily's vacant seat, not even noticing the second laptop.  
"And what good would that do?" Beca asks, playing along.  
"Well," he starts, leaning forward a little, "if we stopped fighting, it would make things around here a lot better for everyone. And maybe, you and I could have a little.. _fun_."  
Beca smirks, "Oh yeah, what kind of fun?"  
He leans even closer and whispers something overtly sexual in Beca's ear. Beca was extremely glad Emily wasn't close enough to hear what he said, because she'd probably faint.  
"As fun as that sounds, there's only one problem with that." Beca whispers, huskily.  
"Hm, and what might that be?" He smirks, knowing he would finally have her in his grasp.  
"You have a dick." Beca says, dryly, looking him directly in the eye.

You could hear a pin drop after those words exited Beca's mouth. It wasn't common knowledge that Beca was gay. Anthony, Jessica and Emily decided to keep that information to themselves, knowing it wasn't their place to be telling people. Also they were kind of hoping that Luke would hit on Beca and they wanted to see what would happen.  
"I beg your pardon." Luke asks, pulling back, rather affronted.  
"I believe you heard me." Beca smiles sweetly.  
"So, you're a dyke?" He spits, leaning back.  
"No, she is a lesbian, not a channel of water."  
Luke's head snaps to his left, and sees Emily standing there with her charger cord. She looked very angry.  
"Emily!" He says, startled, jumping up, "I didn't know anyone else was here."  
"If you are going to speak about someone's sexuality, use the correct term. Don't throw out words in a derogatory manner." She seethed, "It makes you look like a disgusting pig!"

Luke seemed startled to be spoken too in such a way by the sweetest member of his staff. He had never seen such anger from her. He had been caught and there was no going back. He curses himself, he was always so careful when he seduced people in the office, making sure no one was around.  
He clears his throat, "I apologise for my behaviour and I bid you a good evening."  
He immediately walks away from the desk, not only angry that he struck out, but annoyed that he got caught being sleazy. Emily glares at him as he passes, she thought it would be funny to watch him hit on Beca. But now that she saw it, it wasn't funny at all. What would have happened if she hadn't have been there? Luke looked so angry to find out Beca was gay. She sits back down in a huff.

Beca watches her with keen interest, having never heard such a tone come out of her mouth.  
"Wow, I didn't think you had that in you." Beca says, raising her eyebrows.  
"I knew he hit on our female managers, but I didn't realise how gross it would be to watch." She grimaces, "And how he spoke to you?! Ugh!"  
"It's not something I haven't heard before." Beca sighs, "But thank you, it was nice of you to stand up for me."  
"I shudder to think what could have happen if I wasn't here." Emily frowns, looking at Beca.  
"It's ok, Em. I'm a big girl, I would have handled it." Beca assured her.  
"Big? Beca, you're the size a child!" Emily cries before gasping, "What if he tried to sexually assault you?" She reaches out and grabs Beca, pulling her into a giant hug, "You're so tiny, he may have squished you under his abs."  
"I'm not that small!" Beca snaps, trying to get out of Emily's hug, but she only held on tighter.  
"Shhh tiny one!" Emily comforts, stroking Beca's hair, "I'll protect you."  
' _I should have taken my chances with Luke._ ' Beca grumbles to herself.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, thank you so much for the wonderful comments on the last chapter! I love reading what you think it going to happen next. I'm so amazed you guys still love my story and I'm so happy you're all here with me! But, to the next chapter, enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **2 weeks later**

' _What a beautiful day_ ' is all Beca could think as she rides up and down the cobble stone streets of Amsterdam. Beca couldn't help but look up at the trees, so bright from the spring leaves, as she passes by all the beautiful house boats on the canal. It was like something out of a piece of artwork. Everything was so colourful and vibrant. Any lingering sadness Beca had had been pushed away today, she just couldn't be sad around so much beauty.  
"I was still a little worried coming here, but boy, it's just so pretty." Emily gushes, looking around at all the vibrant green trees and the blossoming flower bushes.  
"It's a sight to behold." Beca nods, happily.  
Beca pulls out her camera and takes a bunch of pictures, taking care to capture the way the leaves were moving in the spring breeze.

"Did you get my good side?" Emily grins as she notices she got in one of Beca's photos.  
"You just have a very expressive face Em, it'll help to sell the place in the article." Beca laughs, getting back on her bicycle.  
"You know, it's so peaceful. Maybe I should move her one day." Emily said thoughtfully.  
"Move here? You didn't even want to visit the place and now you want to move here?" Beca snorts with laughter.  
"Well I have a better perception of the place now." She grumbles, crossing her arms.  
"Yeah ok." Beca continues to chuckle.  
The two start riding again along the canal, taking in the breathtaking sights. Beca was a long way from home, but she was finally starting to enjoy herself.

It was their third day in the city and they had already done so much. On their first day they spent it getting lost in the Arty Jordaan district, walking through a series of streets full of art gallery's, antiques shops and beautiful gardens. Beca was in heaven walking through the art galleries and was excited to find out that Emily felt the same way. Beca finally found someone who loved art as much as she did. They spent hours together just immersing themselves in the different galleries. Afterwards, they happened upon a food market. Providing fresh produce and national delicacies to the hordes of tourists and locals a like. They had discovered many restaurants and cafes that served amazing food and fancy coffees. Though Emily was a little worried that Beca might sneak her a pot brownie. Beca thought she might just give her a regular brownie and tell her it was a pot brownie just to see what would happen, but she decided against it. However, Beca was able to take many pictures and get a lot of interviews for the articles. She was really liking the vibe Amsterdam had, although, it was a little too clean for her liking.

Today was the day they would head over to the tulip fields. Emily had been none stop talking about them since Beca mentioned they would be going. Beca was happy they didn't disappoint.  
"Oh my stars! Look at all the flowers!" Emily gasps, as she rides up to the edge of the first tulip field.  
The two women gaze out upon rows and rows of purple tulips. It was a sight to behold with all the multiple shades of purple. Beca had never seen so many flowers in her life, even with all the many flower markets she had been too. She's not even sure her pictures could do this place justice, and this was only one of many fields.  
"Boy, that's a lot of flowers!" Beca says, as she snaps a few pictures.  
"Oh and the smell…" Emily breaths in deeply, "It's so sweet."  
Beca sniffs, it was sweet, sweeter than she would have imagined.  
"It's such a shame we can't take some home with us." Emily pouts, "They would brighten up my dingy apartment."  
"Emily, you need to get a new place and one on your own. Your roommates are horrible." Beca comments, having been to Emily's apartment before, it remind her of the very first apartment that Stacie and her had in New York.  
"They're not _that_ bad." Emily says, her nice side shining through.  
"Emily..They're horrible." Beca shakes her head.

Emily grabs her bike and rides away, trying to forget her terrible roommates. Beca shrugs and wanders down into one of the fields, this one was full of pink tulips. The smell was so beautiful and sweet, it just relaxes Beca as she slowly strolls down one of the rows. It couldn't be a more perfect day. The sky was blue and the spring breeze was warm. She couldn't have hope for a better backdrop for her pictures. Beca takes a few pictures, careful to not capture the other tourists around her. She bends down to get a closer shot, smiling as she sees a tiny lady beetle walking on the tulip. The tulip was perfect in every way, perfectly pink, beautifully curved and smells as sweet it could it be.  
"So beautiful." Beca mutters, clicking her camera button.  
"Rebecca Mitchell?"  
Beca looks up startled, no one ever uses her full name. Beca sees that there was a young man standing over her. She lets her eyes focus on him, before letting them widen in shock.  
"Jesus Christ!" she mutters.

Beca stands up, of all the people in the world that she could have ran into, she ran into this guy. Benji Applebaum, one of her six enemies. Beca could reason she could take that number back down to five now that Aubrey and her were getting along, but the jury was still out on that one. Benji was the best friend of her ex boyfriend Jesse. Benji and Beca had always gotten on extremely well and were fairly close, but when Beca broke up with Jesse, Beca lost Benji in the "divorce". It always sadden her that she lost Benji as a friend, she always thought very highly of the magical little weirdo and missed him greatly. But never in a million years did she think she would stumble upon him in a tulip field in Amsterdam.  
"Benji?" Beca asks, still not believing her own eyes, wondering what on earth he was doing here.  
"Rebecca." He says, trying to sound cold.  
"When have you ever called me Rebecca?" Beca crosses her arms, "Come on dude, it's been almost four years."  
"You broke my best friend's heart and he's never gotten over it!" Benji says, still attempting to sound angry.  
"Benji…Jesse got married two years ago." Beca says, lacking expression.  
Benji huffs, he knew very well that while Jesse wouldn't go out of his way to talk to Beca, he had very much moved on from her. Benji was trying hard to be angry with Beca because of Jesse, but that really wasn't the reason.

…

Emily strolls through the fields, stopping every few flowers and smelling the sweet scent. What a joy to be here? It was beautiful and colourful, it was what Emily imagined heaven to look like. Emily looks around wondering where Beca could have gotten too. Emily sighs, of course she can't find her.  
"I swear, I'm going to have to a tracking chip on her one day. She's just too darn small. She's probably stuck under a flower somewhere and can't find her way out again." Emily sniggers to herself.  
She walks back to the edge of the field and looks back towards the direction she came.  
"There she is." Emily spots Beca, but then spots another person with her.  
Emily frowns, he appeared to be rather upset.  
"Jesus! I hope Beca hasn't offended anyone!" Emily groans, grabbing her bike and riding back towards Beca's field, "I'm not strong enough to pull Beca out of a fist fight!"

"You can't still be mad at me, Benji. Come on, I was going through a really tough time. It's not easy figuring out you're gay when you're in a hetro relationship." Beca says, surprised at how quickly old fights were suddenly being rehashed.  
Benji knew she was right, he wasn't mad about their break up. She broke up with Jesse in a respectful manner, but Jesse just took it poorly. It wasn't easier for him to find out his girlfriend was gay. Benji had to protect his friend because that's what best friends do, but he really missed Beca. He simply stared at her for a moment, trying to think of the right thing to say.  
"Who's your friend, boss?"  
Both Benji and Beca jump, Beca turns and sees Emily. Emily looks a little concerned at what may be going on, she didn't know this man and she wasn't sure what they seemed to be arguing about.  
"Emily, hey. Ah..this is Benji Applebaum…my old…ah..um.." Beca stumbles on her words, she wasn't sure what they were, but introducing him as her fifth enemy might make this already awkward situation far more awkward.  
"Friend." Benji says, suddenly, gazing intently at Emily, "Beca's old friend, from New York."

In a matter of minutes Beca went from startled to surprised to to feeling very awkward to now feeling incredible confused. They were literally just rehashing old wounds and now they are suddenly friends again. But then Beca looks at the way he was looking at Emily, Beca had never seen Benji look at anyone like that. It was like he had just gazed upon the face of an angel and was completely smitten. A small part of her is surprised, because she had a hunch that Benji was low key gay for Jesse.  
' _But then again, my gaydar is pretty shit. It's more like please be gaydar._ ' Beca thinks, amusing herself with her own thought.  
"Oh wow! I've never met any of Beca's New York friends in person before." Emily says, a beautiful smile spreads over her face, "It's wonderful to meet you. I'm Emily!"  
Benji was now suddenly stuck for words, she had directly spoken to him. His hands started shaking and butterflies started fluttering in his stomach. She was looking at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Her big brown eyes seem to sparkle in the sun giving her a magical quality.

"Hell..Lo…Em..ly…nice..yo.u..meet.. me.." Benji stutters, not seemingly able to get the words out.  
Emily looks at him with concern, while Beca just looks at rather surprised. Benji usually acted very confident in his own sweet way. Never usually had too much of a problem talking to people, he was actually just a little to forward.  
"Oh boy, those aren't words." Benji says to himself, trying not to feel embarrassed.  
"Are you ok?" Emily asks, very concerned.  
"It might be the sun, hey Benj?" Beca jumps in to save him, giving him a raised eyebrow to play along.  
"It's possible I haven't had enough water." He nods, looking at Beca to make sure the words came out.  
"Oh dear, come with me and I'll get you some water while you sit in the shade." Emily says, not very concerned, reaching out and grabbing his arm.

Emily leads Benji to a shady tree on the edge of the field. Making sure he was ok when he sits down.  
"Oh no, you're shaking. I'll go get you some water!" Emily says, now extremely concerned that Benji was ill, she dashes off to a drinks van near them.  
Beca watches Emily dash away, before turning her attention back to Benji.  
"Dude, explain yourself?" She says, thoroughly amused.  
"Beca, I don't know what happened, I completely blacked out for about 10 seconds." He shook his head.  
Beca snorts, Benji was charming in his own innocent way. Beca forgot how much she liked talking to Benji. She sits down beside him. They sit in silence for a moment, looking out over the beautiful flowers.

"Why are you really angry with me?" Beca asks, after a moment.  
Benji sighs, he can't keep telling himself it was because of Jesse.  
"You just left." He says quietly.  
Beca frowns sadly, she remembers after she broke up with Jesse, he was so angry. Beca knew it would be best to stay away from everyone in his life, including Benji.  
"You didn't even say goodbye to me." He says, sadly.  
"Benj, this had nothing to do with you. You were Jesse's best friend, I just thought you would hate me after we broke up." She explains, feeling a little guilty.  
"I know, it just it hurt. I took Jesse side because he was my best friend, but I just really missed you." He says, looking out over the fields.  
"I missed you too, Benj. I was sad to leave you behind." Beca says, sincerely.  
In Beca's life, she had come across very few people whom she liked straight away, Benji was one of them. They both could see Emily coming back, Benji turns back to Beca giving her a long look.  
"You look happier than I remember."

…

After Benji miraculously recovered from his 'sunstroke', he explained what he was doing in Amsterdam. He had come over to study magic with famous magician. He had become even better than Beca remembered. Benji invited them to watch him perform later that evening. There was a secret bar on the outskirts of the city that hosted talent nights. It showcased a variety of talents from all over the world. The only way to get into the bar was by invitation only, you were given a password and entered in by a secret door down the end of an alleyway. The bar itself was a local delight, the locals loved keeping its secret creating more mystery and helping tourists by giving them clues on how to find the place when asked. It had been said that sometimes talent agents and producers would visit the bar on those nights in hopes to find the next big thing.

This was exactly the kind of place Beca loved finding. Places that created mystery and excitement. Lucky for Beca and Emily, they didn't have to play 'ask the locals' to find the place. But Beca did talk to a few locals to understand a little more on how they give clues to find the place. It came to her understanding that once a year the bar would move to a different location, that way it would never truly be found, giving it more of a buzz for tourists to try and find it. Emily was beyond excited to visit a place like this, they had been to a few hidden places, but not on this level. Their whole thing was that they were hidden and they were only advertised by word of mouth and that is how you would find out the current password.

The two women walk down a quiet street, following the directions Benji had given them. Having spoken to a lot of the locals, Beca knew they were correct. They come to a small, dark alleyway, one that look like all the rest. Emily takes a sharp breath.  
"You ok?" Beca asks, looking up at her tall employee.  
Emily nods, "I'm excited but really terrified at the same time."  
Beca grins, "Is it because we're walking down a dark alley, in a strange city, in a foreign country?"  
"Yes!" She squeaks, Beca making it so much worse, "Like what if we're walking into danger but what if we actually find the bar?" She says, her voice trembling.  
"Does your brain ever give you a break?" Beca asks, knowing Emily's brain likes to go into overdrive a lot.  
"No, it doesn't." Emily shakes her head.  
"Come on, it'll be fine." Beca says, grabbing her arm and dragging her along.

As the make their way to the end of the alley, they find a small set of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, there is a large metal door. Beca could see there is a small window in the door that opens at eye level. It was all rather comical to her, she had seen stuff like this in her childhood cartoons. The make their way down the stairs and knock on the door. The window section of the door opens and they find the top of a men's face.  
"Wachtwoord?" He asks, his voice incredible deep.  
Emily swallows hard, she had one chance to get the password right.  
"Nu ik je heb gevonden, kan ik binnenkomen?" She says, speaking as clearly as she could.  
The window closes with a slam, before the metal door creaks open. The man smiles at the two women, gesturing them to enter. Beca could hear music coming from deep in the building and the murmuring of many people. They enter, following the dark hall to the end and find a large red velvet curtain. They open it and are met with an amazing sight. Emily gasps, as they enter the bar.  
"It's like I've gone back in time." She says, looking around.

The bar was bathed in dimmed golden light, but it was enough to see everything. The bar had exposed brick walls with industrial decorations adorned on them. There is a stage at the end of the room and a bar to the right. Wooden tables and chairs with copper accents flood the floor, each one had a tiny table lamp on it. The wall behind the bar was built in and filled with every type of alcohol you could imagine, with two bartenders dressed in black and white with a bow tie. The whole bar had a very 1920's feel to it.  
"This place is beautiful." Beca says, in awe.  
They make their way to an empty table, surprised at how many people were there. They all looked happy and excited. From the conversations that Beca had with the locals, this talent night was one of the most popular night they held. People came from everywhere to perform or to be in the audience. Pretty awesome for a bar that doesn't have any type of advertisement.

It wasn't long before the show started, all sorts of talents were showcased. Comedians, singers, and dancers alike all came up on stage and performed their hearts out. All of which ended with a rousing applause. Before long, Benji was up. He came out in a magician tux.  
' _Classic._ ' Beca smirks at her old friend.  
Benji proceeded to wow the audience with his slight of hand and his burst of magical flare. He had silver balls floating around the stage, causing ohh's and aww's from around the room. While all the eyes were on the balls, they all suddenly burst into flames. In all the commotion, Benji disappears. The stage goes dark and the spotlight hits Beca and Emily's table. Beca jumps when Benji reappears behind Emily. The room proceeds to burst into applause. Beca could see the awe and wonder on Emily's face as she gazes up at the confident magician behind her.

…

During the intermission of the show, Benji comes and sits with Beca and Emily, seemingly back to normal awkward, nervous self. But Emily was beyond excited when he sat down.  
"Oh my stars! Benji! You were incredible!" She gushes, grabbing his arm and shaking it excitedly.  
Benji blushes hard, "Oh..Th..thank you, Em..Emily."  
Beca smiles, she was very happy to see Benji again and happy to see that he was doing so well in life.  
"Benji, you've gotten better." She smiles at him.  
He smiles back at Beca, really proud of himself. He had been working so hard to get better, he wanted one day to become a professional and he was becoming closer to his dream.  
"Thanks Beca."

The three fall into deep conversation, laughing over drinks and Beca and Benji laughing over old times.  
"Every time I needed a utensil, Benji would pull one out from behind my ear." Beca laughs, remembering all the times Benji would practise his tricks on her.  
Benji leans forward, putting his hand behind Beca's ear and pulls out a fork. Beca sighs in amused exasperation, while Emily laughs and claps with excitement.  
"Jesus Benji! Why forks? Why is it always forks?" Beca shakes her head, snatching the folk out of his hand.  
"That's amazing!" Emily laughs.  
Benji smiles his loop sided smile at Emily, his nerves calming a little. He'd never been around a girl who was so entranced by his magic.  
"I can't believe I ran into you in Amsterdam." Benji says, still surprised to see Beca.  
"I know, I never thought I'd ever run into you again, let alone in Europe." Beca laughs, sipping her drink.  
"You seem so different." He says, thoughtfully.

They touched on this when they were still out in the tulip fields, he remarked that she looked happier than the last time they had met.  
"I do?"  
"Yeah, you're so much more confident than you used to be." Benji says, looking at Beca, "You seem so at home with yourself now."  
Beca smiles, she could only attribute that to Chloe. The more time she spent with her the more she came out of her shell and become the person she is today. She missed Chloe more than anything, but she was forcing herself to get used to life without her.  
"Thanks Benji, I mean, I don't have everything I want in life yet, but I'm getting closer." Beca smiles, hoping one day she would be back with Chloe.  
Benji and Beca smiles warmly at each other. Beca knew then they would be ok, their friendship would ok.  
"It's so cool to finally meet one of Beca's friends from New York." Emily says, "What a small world we live in."  
"Yeah, it is." Benji laughs.  
The bar lights go down again and a hush falls over the crowd. The MC for the night enters the stage once more to announce the next performer.  
"Oh, you guys are going to love this next one." Benji whispers, excitedly.  
The MC takes the mic, "Dames en Heren, Ladies and Gentlemen.." he announces gesturing his arm towards the darkness of the stage.  
The spotlight comes up, Beca nearly chokes on her drink. Suddenly her small world just got a hell of a lot smaller.  
"It is my pleasure to present…Luisa!"


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Notes: In honor of the new Pitch Perfect 3 trailer dropping today (or yesterday, depending where you are in the world) I thought I'd post another chapter. Now just remember, almost everything that's written or not written is for a reason. I really hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

A small part of her knew this would likely happen at some stage. But she just assumed that Europe was such a big place, that maybe she could have avoided it. She was purposely leaving Germany to the end of the two years in hopes that she wouldn't run into her. Her, the one who used to torment her dreams and cause her heart to pound at alarming rates. Her first high school crush, the woman who turned her life upside down with a single look. She was here, not more than a few metres away from her. Beca can feel herself struggling to breathe as she stares at the woman up on the stage. Her golden hair sparkled and Ivory skin glowed in the stage lights, exactly like she remembered. Luisa's mouth opens and her first note comes out. All of the hairs on Beca's body stand on end, making her entirely grateful that she was wearing a long sleeved jacket.

Emily listens in awe, letting the beautiful melody wash over her. She turns to Beca, to tell her that this was amazing, but is met with a sight of her boss about to have an anxiety attack.  
"Beca… Are you ok?" Emily whispers, looking at the odd look on her face.  
Beca couldn't speak, she couldn't seem to control any part of her body at the moment. A feeling all too familiar to Beca when she was around Luisa. All she could do was try and force herself to move, to get out of the bar, to run far away, so she wouldn't see Beca. Beca wasn't ready to see her again. She chugged an entire bottle of wine after she got a friend request from Luisa, Beca may just have a nervous breakdown if she has to actually speak to her.

Emily frowns, wondering what was happening to Beca, Beca was gripping the arm of the chair like her life depended on it. Her eyes were locked onto the beautiful blonde, who was singing on the stage. Emily wondered if Beca knew this woman, she leaned over to Benji.  
"Hey, does Beca know her?" Emily asks, keeping her eyes on Beca.  
Benji looks over at Beca and then back to the stage. Nothing he can remember about Beca comes to mind in this situation. He shrugs, not sure how to answer, though a little concerned Beca could be having a heart attack. Beca can't seem to hear anything other than Luisa's song. She had heard this song before, Luisa used to sing it all the time when they were in high school. Luisa would practice it for hours on end, trying to get it right. Beca would often find herself humming it or singing it herself, though she never knew what it meant, Beca could only assume that it was in German. But it was as beautiful now as it was then, if not more.

Emily stops watching the performance, keeping a close eye on her boss.  
"Do you think she's going to be ok?" Emily whispers to Benji.  
"I don't know, I think she's gone catatonic." Benji whispers back, concerned.  
Beca continues to stare, because she couldn't make her body do anything else. She could only pray that the bar was dark enough to hide her in the crowd. But all of a sudden, ocean blue eyes met her own stormy ones. For a fleeting second, Luisa looks as stunned as Beca felt, but it was gone as soon as it happened. Her eyes left Beca, not even missing a beat. It was then all of the air returns to Beca's lungs. Luisa wasn't expecting her to be here either, she was just as shocked. For some reason that made Beca feel a lot better, but her heart continued to hammer. The problem was, Beca couldn't pick why her heart was beating so hard. Was it because of the shock of seeing Luisa or was it because she still had buried feelings for Luisa? Beca couldn't be sure and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

After what felt like forever, the song comes to an end. The entire bar were on their feet, cheering and clapping, people showing their appreciation for the amazing performance they had just witnessed. The cheers continued, all eyes were on Luisa, but Luisa's eyes were on the only person not on their feet. Beca continued to stare up at her, still not sure if she could move, but thankful she could breathe again. The two locked eyes once more, Luisa gives her a trademark smirk, before turning and exiting stage left. Feeling returns to Beca's body, she immediately grabs her drink and downs it in one.  
"Um..boss..are you ok?" Emily asks, but Beca holds her finger up to stop her talking, before grabbing both Emily's and Benji's drink and downing them one after the other.  
"Jesus!" Benji mutters, wondering what was happening.  
"Beca, you're really starting to worry me now." Emily cries, as she watches Beca order three more drinks.  
"Beca, do you know Luisa Jäger?" Benji asks, remembering the woman's name from rehearsal.

A shiver runs through Beca's body that had nothing to do with the air conditioning. She didn't like hearing her name, but she was now in the same building as her, she was going to have deal with it somehow. A moment goes by before she feels like she could answer.  
"I do." She says, her voice barely working.  
"Do you guys have a history?" Benji asks, interestedly.  
Beca nods, now receiving her new three drinks. The waiter, who was tall and blonde, gives Beca a funny look as she puts all the drinks in front of herself. She grabs the first one but Emily takes it out of her hand.  
"Beca! No!" She takes them away.  
"Emily, I'm not tough enough to handle this! Please!" Beca pleads, her tone of voice scaring Emily.  
"What do you mean, you're not tough enough to handle this? You're Beca Mitchell! The person who stood up to our idiot boss and got the dress code changed. The one who stood her ground when he hit on you. Aren't you the one who told me that you were a big girl that could handle anything?" Emily asks, with a raised eyebrow.  
"I told you I could handle Luke, but… Luisa… she's a whole different story." Beca shivers, trying not to think about it.

Benji and Emily look at Beca expectantly, clearly wanting to hear the story. Beca had a hard enough time going through it with Chloe, she's not sure she could explain it again. Maybe she should just get Stacie to tell them.  
"I need some air." Beca says, getting up.  
She tries to grab one of her drinks upon leaving, but Emily slaps her hand away.  
"No!" Emily says, sternly.  
"Urgh! Fine!" Beca growls, rolling her eyes.  
Beca turns her back on the next performer, making her way back out to the alleyway that she had entered. The bouncer stamping her arm so she could re-enter. The cool air hits her face, calming her slightly. Her heart begins to slow down as she paces the alleyway. It was just a shock to the system, that's all. It had been a bit over six years, Beca should be able to handle this by now.

A few minutes go by and Beca was slowing calming down. Beca could hear that the show had continued in her absence. She should go back inside, she was being silly. She had no reason to be acting this way. It's an old crush, nothing more.  
"Were you not a fan of my song, Maus?" Says a voice from behind her.  
Beca stops pacing, her heart starts pounding once more. All her reasoning she had just done with herself was gone now Luisa was behind her. Beca looks to the entrance of the alley.  
' _I could run, she wouldn't catch me.'_ Beca thinks desperately.  
Beca knew that was a crazy idea, her legs were too short. Luisa had the legs of an amazon, she'd catch her in an instant. Beca takes a deep breath. It was now or never. Beca turns, Luisa's ocean blue eyes meet hers once more. Memories of the last time they met flash through Beca's mind, not helping the situation in the slightest.  
"Hallo Beca." She smiles, making Beca tremble.  
"Hello…Luisa." Beca says, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady.

The two women continued gaze at each other, neither knowing what to say next. It had been so long since they saw each other in person. Though Beca didn't know it, Luisa was just as nervous to see her.  
"I..I did like your song." Beca starts, realising it had gone too long to not say something, "You used to sing it all the time in the practice room."  
Luisa smiles, "You remember?"  
"Of course, you must have sung it at least 400 hundred times." Beca says, recalling many times she heard Luisa singing it, "I think you just took me by surprise."  
Luisa smiles a toothy smile, "I must say, I never expected you to be here tonight. I was quite startled."  
"I've never seen you break before, even if it was only for a second." Beca says, knowing how strict Luisa was as a performer.  
"Ah meine maus, you are the only one who could do that." She says, smiling sincerely.  
Luisa's smile seems softer than she remembered, Beca could feel old feelings starting to reawaken.  
' _Well, this can't be good!_ ' Beca thinks, struggling with herself.

Beca knows she should leave, she had been gone a while and Emily will be getting worried. Not to mention unmistakable butterflies that Beca could feel in her stomach. She had to remove herself before she said something really stupid.  
"I..I sh..should get back inside, my friends will be w..wondering were I went." Beca says, trying to keep her voice steady.  
Luisa's smile disappears for a moment, before letting it return as she gazes down at Beca. She was even more beautiful then she remembered. The sight of Beca was making Luisa's heart pound also. Not that Beca could tell, Luisa was very good at concealing her feelings. Luisa nods, "I understand. We will speak once more after the show is finished."  
Luisa wasn't giving Beca an option on whether they'll talk again, they were going too.  
"Of..of course.." Beca says, but couldn't help but think that was a bad idea.  
Luisa smirks before turning to walk away.  
"I will see you soon." She says walking away, before looking over her shoulder, "And Maus, it's nice to see you can finally keep your cool."  
She steps back into the bar, leaving Beca in the alleyway. Beca stood a little stunned. Then she realises, she didn't once do or say anything weird and for some reason that was incredibly comforting.

…

Beca returns to the bar a few minutes later, having partially calmed down. Beca would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about what she would say when she saw Luisa again and she was happy to know it went better than she imagined.  
' _I guess Chloe was right, I have changed a lot since that weirdo teenager._ ' Beca thinks to herself, as she makes her way back to her seat.  
She sits down and Emily nearly jumps on her.  
"Beca! OMG! Are you ok? We saw her follow you and we got worried!" Emily grabs Beca's arm.  
Beca gently removes Emily's hand, "I'm ok."  
Emily looks at her stunned, "That's it! You chugged three beers, freaked out and bolted out the door and now you're telling me, you're just ok?"  
"Yes." Beca says, picking up one of her previously ordered drinks.

Emily and Benji start at Beca in confusion, less than ten minutes ago she was in a full blown melt down and now she seemed almost fine.  
"So, how do you know her?" Benji asks, trying to figure out what was going on.  
"She went to my high school in my senior year." Beca says, before sipping her drink.  
"And you said you guys have history?" Benji enquires again.  
At the sound of Benji's question, Beca's sip turned into half the glass, causing an eyebrow raise from both her friends. Beca puts the glass down, steadying breathing.  
"She was the one who started my…ah…self discovery." Beca says, awkwardly.  
"Huh?" They say, Benji and Emily give her with a weird look.  
Beca looks at them exasperatedly, they had both seemingly forgotten that she was a lesbian.  
"Wait…oooohhhhh!" Emily says, figuring it out.  
"Oohhhh!" Benji smirks, wiggling his brows.  
Beca groans, "You two are idiots!"

"Wait.. hold up… when you were dating Jesse, you said you had a crush on an exchange student at your school? That was her?" Benji asks, suddenly remembering.  
Beca nods, sipping her drink again, she never told them that her crush was female, just that they were from Germany.  
"Oh Jesus, no wonder you're gay. Jesse never stood a chance." Benji says, covering his mouth in partial shock.  
"Does she know?" Emily asks, interested.  
"That I had a crush on her?" Beca asks, Emily nods, "Yeah, teenage Beca wasn't exactly subtle."  
Emily snorts, making Beca glare at her, "I'm quiet!" Emily says, stopping her laughter.  
Beca sighs, she's not sure if she wants to talk to Luisa again around these two. But she can't go back to her room with her because she and Emily are sharing a room and she certainly doesn't trust herself going with Luisa alone.

The night continued on, the bar showcasing extraordinary talents, but Beca had stopped paying attention. Beca was having very conflicting thoughts. A lot of unresolved feelings for Luisa were stirring, but the thought of Chloe kept pushing through them. Beca couldn't help but argue with herself, she hadn't done anything to make herself feel this way. She had just spoken with Luisa and even if something were to happen, she and Chloe aren't together anymore. But a part of her still felt really guilty for even talking to Luisa.  
"Am I crazy?" Beca says, suddenly, not realising she said it out loud.  
"Like currently or just in general?" Emily asks, startled by the random question.  
Beca huffs at herself and turns to her friends, "I'm single, correct?"  
"Yes. You decided to end things with your ex girlfriend Chloe while you are in London." Emily answers, having educated herself on Beca's backstory.  
"Then why do I feel guilty for even talking to Luisa?" Beca groans at herself.

Benji looks at her with a sympathetic look, "That's what you've been thinking about the past half an hour?"  
Beca nods solemnly, she had nothing to feel guilty about, yet her brain was trying to convince her otherwise.  
"Beca, you're allowed to talk to other women. I know you and Chloe will talk about getting back together when you get home, but that's if you're both still single." Emily says, "Besides, you only dated Chloe for like 8 months, are you sure she was even the one?"  
"I don't know!" Beca groans, though a big part of her wanted to scream yes.  
"Beca, you're in your mid twenties. You're too young to be stressing like this, go and sow your wild oats!" Benji says, passionately.  
"Ew." Beca mutters, shaking her head.  
"What I think Benji is trying to say is.." Emily says, trying not to gross Beca out, "..that it's not a bad thing to have fun while you're young. Besides, nothing's even happened. You're majorly over thinking things." Emily rubs her arm assuring her.

But at that moment, the handsome waiter with blonde hair, that brought Beca her three drinks, approaches the table once more.  
"Miss Mitchell?" He asks, in an accent that Beca couldn't pick.  
"Yes?" Beca asks, looking up at the young man.  
"Miss Jäger asked me to give this to you." He says, handing her a folded note.  
"Oh.." Beca says, taking the note, "Thank you."  
He smiles, giving her a long look before walking away. Beca's hands begin to shake as she looks at the folded note. It was a note from Luisa. Emily and Benji watch Beca in anticipation, wanting to know what was in the note.  
"Well…open it!" Emily says, suddenly.  
Beca jumps, "Oh..right..Um..Meine Tiny Maus, Meet me at the café by my hotel after the show, Luisa." Beca reads, seeing the the name of her hotel and café at the bottom.  
"Ooooooo!" Benji and Emily coo together at Beca's blushing face.  
"Shut up! What are you guys like 12 years old?" Beca rolls her eyes, trying hard not to blush.

Her friends just laugh at her supposed misfortune, but Beca really felt guilty now. She had a late night meet up with an old crush.  
' _But you're single Beca! You're not doing anything wrong._ ' Beca thinks desperately, ' _Maybe you wouldn't feel so bad if it wasn't Luisa._ '  
"So, why does she call you my tiny mouse?" Emily asks, interestedly.  
Beca groans, "I don't know, she's always called me that!"  
"Cute!" Benji smirks, knowing Beca hated being called cute, earning a huge glare from her.  
"Are you going to meet her?" Emily asks, now very invested.  
Beca was still waging war inside her head about that, a huge part of her was telling her it was an extremely bad idea and nothing good can come from it. But the other part was really wanting to see what would happen, maybe it was unresolved lust from when she was a teenager.  
"I don't know. I'm just not sure it's a good idea. She has this weird effect on me." Beca mutters, embarrassed to be admitting something like this in front of her employee.

The trio falls silent for a second, all thinking of whether Beca should go meet up with the stunning blonde. Emily couldn't help but think it was a good thing, but she remembers how torn up Beca was when she got to London and how she still really missed Chloe.  
"Oh! I know! Call Chloe and ask her if you should go." Emily suggests, suddenly.  
Beca couldn't have imagine a worse idea, "I'm not going to call Chloe about it! Chloe was hella jealous of her when she sent me a friend request and we weren't even dating then."  
"But isn't the thought of Chloe the only thing that is stopping you?" Emily asks, slyly.  
"No…yes, urgh…it's not just that…Luisa is slightly…terrifying." Beca whispers last word.  
"Terrifying in a scary way or terrifying in an overwhelming sexual way?" Benji asks, intrigued.  
Beca starts to wonder where her innocent little magician went.  
"I'm not going to answer that question, Benjamin!" Beca crosses her arms, disgruntled.  
Benji laughs, "It's the second one, don't worry Beca, we felt that too."

Beca groans to herself, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. She's not sure what was going to happen or even if you could trust herself if something were to happen. It was going to be an interesting night to say the least.  
"I bet she really takes charge in bed." Emily says, thoughtfully and slightly out of character, "I just got that vibe from her, you know." Benji nods in agreeance.  
Beca groans even more lowering her head to the table, hoping the bar floor would swallow her whole.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Notes: Wow! Some very mixed responds to the last chapter hahaha. So before we begin, I'll just clear a few things up 1. Yes, it's still a Bechloe story, I love a good twist, but I'm not that mean 2. Chloe will be back, it's a very long story, so be patient and 3. To the person who has been posting the same comment in the guest reviews over and over, Bro, I see you and I fully understand how plot twists work. If you didn't like it, than it worked. You're not going to like them all. Hahaha Ok, now that we've cleared that up, lets us move on to the next chapter!**

* * *

After the show had ended, the trio walked through the city towards the girl's hotel. Benji had offered to walk them back, since he already lived in the city and knew it quite well. Beca was quiet most of the way, she still hadn't made up her mind whether she would meet Luisa or not. Beca hadn't felt this anxious since she told Chloe about her picture.  
' _That turned out ok, why wouldn't this?_ ' Beca reasons with herself.  
Beca just couldn't help but remember the last time that she and Luisa were really alone together. The thought of it makes her blush heavily. The memory still cropped up in her dreams from time to time. It was still one of the sexiest things that ever happened to her.

 _Teenage Beca was packing up her camera gear and her scattered pictures in the photo lab. She couldn't believe she had just graduated. Little Beca Mitchell, a high school graduate. Not to mention she had been accepted into NYIP. Beca couldn't have been more excited. Stacey's Mum was taking her, Stacey and a few of their friends to go celebrate tonight, because Stacie got accepted into a great college too. Both in New York, they were going to live together in the city. Beca could finally get out her mum's hair, and spread her photos out and show them off by hanging them on her walls. It was a dream come true._

 _Beca hums to herself, happily packing her camera bag, not noticing the door opening.  
_ " _That is a familiar tune."  
_ _Beca jumps and spins around, nearly dropping the camera lens in her hand.  
_ " _Luisa!" She gasps, now incredibly nervous.  
_ " _Hallo tiny maus, what a pretty tune you are humming." She gives Beca a toothy grin, causing Beca's heart to pound.  
_ " _I..I…" Beca stutters, her brain buzzing with very confusing emotions.  
_ " _Is that one of the songs that I sing?" Luisa steps closer to Beca, making Beca's heart race.  
_ " _I..I..don't know…it's j..just always stuck in m..my head." Beca says, desperate to form words.  
_ _Beca backs up towards the table near the wall, putting her lens down._

 _Luisa steps closer, walking slowly, making Beca feel like she was Luisa's prey.  
_ " _I will be leaving for Germany tonight. Will you miss me, meine maus?" Luisa asks, tilting her head, giving Beca an intense gaze.  
_ _Beca suddenly hits the wall, she couldn't back up any further. She didn't know what to do now, she was using all her mental strength not blurt out how beautiful Luisa smelt at this moment.  
_ " _No? You're not going to miss me?" Luisa pouts, now in reaching distance of Beca, "I'm going to miss you, and all of those wunderbar and verrückt things you shout at me."  
_ " _I don't mean too… m..my brain..sometimes forgets t..t..to think." Beca trembles, as she leans against the wall, trying to find her way out before she passes out._

 _Luisa reaches Beca and places a hand beside her head, leaning against the wall. She looks deep into Beca's eyes, giving her a little smirk.  
_ " _Does that mean you don't like me.." Luisa leans in close to Beca's face and whispers, "..the way I like you?"  
_ _Beca's eyes widen in surprise as Luisa captures her lips in one swift motion. Beca feels a very soft hand clutch the small of her back, lifting her up. Luisa deepens the kiss as she lifts Beca up into her arms. The kiss was urgent, Luisa knew that someone could walk in at anytime, but she would never get another chance. Still in her arms, Luisa pushes her against the wall, pinning Beca. She runs her hand through Beca's hair, pulling it slightly to make Beca moan. Both girls relished in the feeling of the others lips as they moved with each other. Beca felt dizzy, by the smell of cinnamon and by the many emotions that were raging through her. She had never felt like this before, no kiss she had ever had, had ever felt like this. Beca reaches out cups Luisa's face, drawing her closer, Luisa responding in turn, nipping at Beca's lip and making her beg for more._

" _Hey Beca, can you hurry up? Mum wants to get to the restaurant early to get the afternoon sp…" Stacey says, walking in, but stops dead in her tracks, "HOLY SHIT!"  
_ _The two girls pull apart, Luisa putting Beca's feet back on the ground. Luisa regains her composure immediately but Beca slides down the wall to the floor. Luisa smirks lovingly at her, she was truly going to miss her tiny maus.  
_ " _Auf Wiedersehen, meine tiny maus! Until we meet again_. _" Luisa purrs, before strutting away, only waving at a slack jawed Stacey as she went.  
_ " _Beca…are you alive?" A shocked Stacey asks, watching the the German walk out of sight.  
_ " _I don't know…" Beca mutters, still in a puddle on the floor._

"We're here!" Benji, announces.  
Beca had zoned out for a while, remembering that time in her photo lab. She hadn't noticed that they had changed directions. Beca was just mindlessly following Emily and Benji and is now very surprised (and annoyed) at where they ended up.  
"Wait…this isn't our hotel.." Beca begins to panic as she realises that she was at the café Luisa wanted to meet at.  
"Don't freak out, but we took a detour." Emily says, sounding extremely guilty.  
"Are you kidding me?" Beca snaps, at her two friends.  
"Hey, this is on you." Benji says, sassily, "You didn't even notice we were walking this way, we even tried telling you, but you weren't listening either."  
"I hate both of you!" Beca glares, at her friends, "We are leaving bef…"

Beca never got to finish that sentence as she sees a blonde vision walking out of the café, giving Beca a smile that made her knees weak. There was no running now, the decision was made for her, she was going to have to talk to her now.  
"Good evening, I'm glad you are here." Luisa says, directing her attention to Beca.  
Luisa really takes Beca in, she had changed so much. No more buttons in her ears or bad eyeliner or clothes that were just a little too big for her. Beca had tight black skinny jeans on, with a basic light grey tee and a black leather jacket. Her make up was simple, with an expertly done winged liner. To Luisa, she was a sight to behold.  
"Du siehst so lecker aus, ich könnte dich hier essen!" Luisa mutters, huskily, not concerned about Beca's two friends.  
"Oh my stars!" Emily gasps, seemingly the only one who understood what Luisa said.  
Luisa looks at Emily, though she doesn't seem too concerned, she just looks a little surprised that the young woman seemed to understand her. She looks to Beca for an answer.

Beca realises Luisa must have said something very odd or kinda dirty, because she had never seen Emily blush quite this hard before.  
"Oh, um.. Emily is my translator. She would have understood what you just said." Beca says, awkwardly, starting to wonder if she really wanted to know what she said or not.  
Luisa smirks at Emily, "Would you like to translate that for her?"  
Emily's eyes widen in shock, "I can't say that to her, she's my boss!"  
"Would you like me to say something different for you to translate than?" Luisa smirks, raising her eyebrows suggestively.  
"No thank you!" Emily squeaks, her face going even redder.  
Benji and Beca both look at Emily, who now has changed her mind on this idea and is now very aware of why Beca was so nervous.  
She turns to Beca, "We can run, I have long legs, I'll carry you. Just say the word."

Beca looks back to Luisa, she could see how much fun Luisa was having tormenting Emily, but in the light of the café and the street lights, she didn't seem so scary and intimating anymore.  
"Ah..it's ok…Benj will take you back to the hotel and I'll see you back there later." Beca says, really making her decision.  
Although, Benji was starting to get comfortable around Emily, he had completely over looked the fact that he would be alone with her once they brought Beca here. He nodded nervously at Beca, assuring Beca he would take Emily back. Emily gives Luisa a hard look, looking right into her ocean blue eyes.  
"If I see a single bite mark on her, there'll be trouble." She warns, making Luisa giggle.  
"Ich werde mehr tun als beißen, glauben Sie mir." Luisa says, sweetly, giving Emily a beautiful smile.  
"Oh my god!" Emily gasps in audible whisper, quickly walking away.  
"Ah…" Benji says, confused watching Emily walk away blushing all the way down her neck, "Well..Have fun."  
He hastens after Emily, given Beca a fleeting glance over his shoulder as he goes.

Luisa and Beca watch them walk away. Luisa smirking, it had been a while since she had messed with someone that innocent, she thoroughly enjoyed it. Beca on the other hand was very confused at what just happened.  
"Well, I have no idea what just happened, but still not the strangest situation I've had with you." Beca admits, looking at Luisa.  
Luisa grins at Beca, "Would you like to know what I said?"  
"Nope!" Beca says, simply, walking into the café.  
The two women walk into the café, sitting in a secluded booth in the back. Finally up close Beca could see the Luisa hadn't changed much over the years. If anything she had gotten more beautiful. She still had heavy sexual energy that surrounded her, making Beca squirm a little.

They sit in silence for a bit, a lot of unsaid things hung in the air.  
"How have you been, maus?" Luisa asks, breaking the silence.  
"Um..good.. you know, working..a lot." Beca says, breathing through the intense gaze Luisa was giving her.  
"Yes, I have seen your recent work. Your pictures have gotten better." Luisa smiles, leaning her chin in her hand.  
Beca blushes, "Thank you."  
Luisa feels her heart races a little at the sight of the blushing Beca, she had always hoped that they would see each other again. They left things unfinished, something that never sat well with her.  
"How is your pretty girlfriend? The red headed one?" She asks, scoping out her competition.  
"Wow! Just right to it, huh?" Beca asks, startled by the sudden subject changed.

Beca's guilty feelings return in ten fold, the thought of Chloe floods her mind. Beca takes a deep breath, trying to remember that she wasn't doing anything wrong. She and Chloe aren't together anymore and she was just talking with Luisa.  
"Um..We are on a break while I'm in London working." Beca says, with a sad sigh, trying to ignore Luisa giving her a playful smile.  
"I see, I'm sorry to hear that." Luisa says, sounding like she wasn't sorry in the slightest.  
"I'm sure you are." Beca shakes her head, smirking in spite of herself.  
Luisa giggles, "Well, I think I made my feelings clear the last time we met."  
Beca blushes, letting out a shaky laugh. Though Beca still wasn't sure if her feelings were ones of love or lust.  
Beca wasn't sure she wanted to stay on that subject. She didn't feel like staying a shade of red the whole time they were talking.

"How's the singing going?" Beca ask, remembering Luisa wanted to be a singer full time, "I thought you'd be super famous by now."  
Luisa sighs, "Life moves on, maus. I still sing, here and there, mostly for fun."  
Beca frowns, "What do you do for a living?"  
Luisa smirks, "I'm a model now."  
"Of course you are." Beca groans, at the beautiful woman.  
Because if the tall beautiful blonde wasn't a singer, of course the only other option for her would be a model.  
' _How ironic it is that I'm a photographer and she's a freaking model!_ ' Beca thinks to herself.  
Luisa lets out a melodic laugh, "Maybe you could photograph me one day."  
She winks at Beca, making her laugh. Both women start laughing together, feeling a lot of the odd tension between them evaporate. As nervous as Beca had been since the second she laid eyes on Luisa, she was starting to realise that they had grown up a lot and she could handle anything that Luisa could throw at her.

…

Beca was wrong, very, very wrong, she couldn't handle what Luisa threw at her and boy, did she throw everything at her. Beca stresses as she walks through the empty early morning streets of Amsterdam, still in the clothes for the night before. Even though she looked as calm as someone who was simply going on an early morning walk, Beca was having a complete meltdown on the inside. The thought of the events from last night still fresh in her memory, Beca groans at herself, what did she do?  
' _Why did I think I could handle Luisa? I can't even handle general flirting, let alone a German model!'_ Beca thinks to herself, clutching her head desperately, _'Why did you think you could just talk to her?_ '  
Beca needed to talk to someone, before she let her anxiety completely take her over. She pulls out her phone and calls Stacie. She knew it would be very late in the evening, but she needed the advice of her best friend.  
" _Beca! How are you? Where are you?_ " Stacey exclaims, as she answers the phone.  
"Stacie…" Beca says, sounding extremely stressed, "I did something."

The tone of Beca's voice makes Stacie stop what she was doing, now very concerned. Beca could hear Stacie get up and shut her door.  
" _Bec…if you've killed someone…I can't help you…I'm too far away…"_ She says in a hurried whisper.  
Beca groans, "No Stacie.."  
" _Call Amy, she has people everywhere. We can sneak you back into America."_ Stacie continues to whisper.  
"Stacie! I didn't kill anyone!" Beca says, loudly, causing a passing couple to look at her with concern, Beca gives them a hurried smile, "Goedemorgen!"  
"Jesus Stacie!" Beca groans, "I did something else, something I'm not sure if I'm going to regret or not. And why was your first thought that I killed someone?"  
" _Well..I mean, you're not always great with people Bec._ " Stacie says, happy to know Beca didn't kill anyone, " _Ok, well that's the worst thing I can think of, so whatever you did can't be that bad._ "

Beca wasn't sure she agreed, because she still felt very conflicted.  
"I went home with someone last night." Beca says, not saying who just yet.  
" _Oh yeah? What did you's do?_ " Stacie asks, not cottoning on to what Beca was saying, due to her lack of sexual prowess.  
"What do you mean, what did we do? What do you think we did? Look at a stamp collection?" Beca exclaims, annoyed, "I slept with someone."  
" _Like you guys fell asleep together?_ " Stacie asks, knowing it would annoy Beca immensely.  
"Jesus Christ! Why did I call you?" Beca mutters, cranky.  
" _Ok, ok, I'm sorry."_ Stacie laughs, heartily, " _So, who is this sexy stranger?_ _What did she look like? Did she have a sexy accent? Ohhh was she Swedish?"_

The flood of questions made Beca nauseous, finding it hard to even form the words.  
"She wasn't a stranger. In fact, we both know her." Beca says, almost in a whisper.  
" _Really?_ _Where did you meet her?"_ Stacie asks, now very intrigued.  
"I saw her in Amsterdam, that's where I am at the moment." Beca says, keeping her voice hushed as she makes her way back to her hotel.  
" _Ohhh Beca, did you find yourself a woman of the night?_ " Stacie jokes, sniggering.  
"Why the fuck did I call you?" Beca groans, regretting this call more than the night before.  
" _Bec, but we don't know anyone from Amsterdam."_ Stacie says, laughing a little, but being a little serious because Beca may very well hang up.  
"Well, obviously she's not from Amsterdam. But she's from surrounding areas." Beca mutters, walking past several people on their morning bike ride.  
" _Wait…_ " Stacie's big brain goes into overdrive as her geometry comes back to her as she starts to remember the countries surrounding The Netherlands, " _Oh My God!_ _Please tell me it's not who I think it is?_ "  
"I slept with Luisa." Beca mutters, down the phone.

There was a moment's silence where Stacie's suspicions were confirmed. She was so stunned that she had no words. Beca starts to get worried, before Stacie lets out an almighty cheer.  
" _WOOOOOOOOOOO!_ " She shouts, excitedly, startling Beca as she pulls the phone away from her ear.  
Beca hears Stacie's door opens, " _No..no.. I'm fine, just someone from work… New chemical reaction worked… yep very exciting…"  
_ "Oh god! Was that Chloe?" Beca says, racked with guilt.  
" _Its fine, she's gone. Beca! This is incredible!"_ She whispers, excitedly, " _Teenage Beca will be having a friggen field day!_ "  
"Stacie! This is a problem!" Beca moans, felling awful.  
" _Why?"_ Stacie asks, but see the shadow of Chloe's feet walk past her room again, " _Oh Beca..It's been 5 months, you're allowed to see other people._ "  
"Yeah, but it was Luisa!" Beca cries, thinking if it was anyone else she wouldn't feel so awful

Stacie could understand how Beca was feeling, it must be really hard for her. She and Chloe have barely spoken and they seem to be drifting apart. She knew that they were just going through a hard time being away from each other. They just needed to adjust.  
" _Bec, you didn't do anything wrong. I know you and Chloe will be together one day, but you haven't even turned 25 yet. Live your life!"  
_ It finally clicked to Beca, she was really young. She had so much of her life ahead of her, and she may have always wondered what if, if she didn't go back with Luisa. Beca sighs, letting herself calm down. She sits down by the canal looking at the pretty house boats.  
"So, I'm just overreacting?" Beca asks, just needing reassurance from her best friend.  
" _Totally! I mean, we can't expect you to go two years without sex. Like that's just fucking crazy!_ " Stacie says, scoffing, like abstaining from sex for that long was craziest thing she could think of.

Beca rolls her eyes, and sighs, "I meant about Luisa?"  
" _Oh, yeah. You're totally overreacting about that, it's not that bad. It's not like you're going to start dating her."_ Stacie snorts, " _Wait…you aren't going to start dating her…right?_ "  
"No, I haven't made a plan to see her again." Beca answers, truthfully.  
" _That's good, I mean she's probably really great, but I never saw you ending up with her._ " Stacie remarks.  
"Yeah?"  
" _Yeah, I mean, you guys had like an intense attraction, but I think that's all it was."_ Stacie explains her thoughts.  
Beca wonders, last night felt different than she would normally. It was fun and extremely satisfying, but if she thinks about it, there wasn't a connection like she had with Chloe. There was no deep yearning desire or deep feelings of love for Luisa. Beca begins to realise that maybe what Luisa and her had was lust and nothing more."Thanks Stacie, I needed to hear that." Beca breaths a sigh of relief.

" _Ah what are best friends for, if not to justify your sexual escapades?_ " Stacie smirks.  
Beca smiles, before frowning, "What last night really made me realise is how much I miss Chloe. But she barely speaks to me."  
" _I noticed that, she's been really odd of late. Kinda quiet and withdrawn, but from what I can gather is that she doesn't want you to regret leaving. She thinks that if she's not on your radar 24/7, that you won't feel bad for chasing your dreams."_ Stacie says, knowing how sad Chloe has been.  
"Well that makes me feel terrible." Beca's face drops.  
" _No don't, Bec. You made the right choice, this will set up your life. What's two years right?"_ Stacie's says, trying to comfort her friend.  
"It's only been 5 months and I miss you guys like crazy." Beca admits, sadly, "And I miss Chloe so much."  
" _I know Beca and we miss you too. But your work, it so incredible and just think of the portfolio you'll have when you get home. Just take it one month at time and you'll be home before you know it._ " Stacie says, supportively.

It was sound advice, Beca and Emily basically did one assignment per month. So, if she thought about it that way, it might help her get through it.  
' _19 assignments to go.'_ Beca thinks, as she watches people ride by her on their bikes.  
" _So Beca…last night…how was it?_ " Stacie asks, slyly.  
"Yep, I'm hanging up now." Beca snaps as she stands up.  
" _Oh come on! I tell you my stories!_ " Stacie whines, very offended that she wouldn't share.  
"I never ask to hear your stories, you just tell me!" Beca rolls her eyes, though smiling, she was going to make through her next 19 months.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: I'm going to post again in morning (my time), so you guys don't riot on me :D hahaha**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Notes: Ok, well nothing seems on fire after the last chapter, so that's refreshing hahaha! And no guest comments screaming at me! Woo! All in all, a good start to the day. Alrighty, lets get started, on to the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **1 year later**

A very disgruntled Beca storms down the street as a very stressed Dean Walker races after her. Being small, she was able to hide easily amongst the on coming crowd.  
"Bec? Beca please!" He shouts, desperately.  
Beca stops and turns to Dean, giving him a very hostile look, a look that stops Dean in his tracks. He had never seen Beca this angry before and quite frankly, he was a little afraid of Beca right now.  
"I said no!" Beca growls, before turning on her heel and continuing down the street.  
"But it's such a good opportunity!" Dean cries, catching up to her.  
"You said two years! That's it!" Beca snarls, angrily, "And now you want to extend my contract another year? Maybe more!"  
"But Beca, we've barely scratched the surface of Europe and the company is thriving. That's because of you!" He reasons, trying to dodge the people on the street.  
"Find somebody else, because I said no!" Beca snaps, angrily, being thankful to spot her apartment building in the near distance.

Beca opens the door of her lobby building, letting it slam in Dean's face. She was angry, so very angry. How dare he ask her that? She had left her entire life behind to come here and now he wants to keep her here?  
Beca uses the stairs, because she knows Dean would follow her and he's very unfit. She start walking up the stairs, hearing Dean groan.  
"Beca!" He moans, annoyed, "The stairs?"  
Beca ignores him and continues to climb. She basically walks everywhere, so she is pretty fit so this isn't bothering her. It's also helping her to get her rage out. Dean starts climbing not wanting to let Beca out of his sight.  
"Beca, please! Slow down." He begs, as he reaches the second staircase.  
"No." Beca responds, exiting out on her level.

Dean knew she would be mad, but he didn't think he would get this reaction. Beca was such a great team player, but she just snapped. Dean barely made it out of the office alive. He was feeling extremely guilty, but he knew Beca was the best and he needed the best. He finally reaches Beca's floor and struggles out the door.  
"Damn, I need to start going to the gym again." He puffs, wiping the sweat from his brow.  
He makes his way down to Beca's apartment and knocks loudly. He leans on the wall next to it, trying to catch his breath.  
"Beca, please open the door?" Dean begs, again.  
He's met with silence. He sighs, he knew he messed up, he knew it was a bad idea, but he put it forth anyway. He wanted for Beca to take on a third year to continue her work, he thought the pay raise may have been enough for her to accept. But he was wrong, so very wrong.

He continues to knock, "Beca! I'm sorry! I didn't think you would be this angry!"  
The door suddenly reefs open, "But you knew I'd be angry but you did it anyway!" Beca shouts at him, attempting to slam the door.  
But Dean was too quick and catches the door. Beca glares at him and storms off into her apartment. Dean takes a deep breath in, he may very well die today. He enters her apartment and sees Beca in her kitchen seething.  
"Beca…I'm sorry, ok! Both Warren and I thought it's a great way to further your career." Dean explains, starting to cower under Beca's glare.  
"I have seven months left, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and you come in and try to make the tunnel longer." She yells, angrily, "I have worked for 15 months non stop, I haven't seen my family and friends since I left. I broke up with my girlfriend and she hasn't spoken to me in 6 months."

That surprises Dean, every time he has seen Chloe, she was always saying she had just spoken to Beca or saying she got a post card from her. He didn't realise things had gotten so bad between them.  
"I didn't know.."  
"Yeah well now you do! I've missed out on so much, my dad and his wife had a baby, I haven't seen her. My mother got engaged, I missed her engagement party. I've missed Christmases, birthdays, and weddings." Beca screams, sounding like she had been holding on to this for a long time, "And yes, it was my decision to come here, but I haven't had one chance to go home! NOT ONE!"  
"Beca I'm sorry.." He says, not realising she felt this way.  
"You're sorry? But you're the one who wants to extend my time here!" She shoves him a little.  
"Why didn't you ask for time off?" Dean asks, backing off.  
"I did! But Luke is in charge of that!" She answers, angrily.

It finally dawns on Dean why she hadn't come home and why she was so angry. He just thought she was enjoying herself so much, she didn't want to come home. That's why he suggested the extension.  
"I'll talk to Warren, we'll give you a month off." He says, trying to calm her down.  
This infuriates Beca even more, he just didn't get it. She was ready for the two years to be over, she wanted to go home for good. Dean watches Beca's face contorts into rage, he realises he said the wrong thing.  
"I'm sorry! Just tell me what you want!" He cries, backing away quickly, Beca may be small, but he was terrified of her.  
"I want to finish my contract, then go home!" Beca says, though somewhat amused at how terrified Dean was.  
"So, that's it then, you're just going to quit after this?" Dean asks, worried that's exactly what she's going to do.  
"I don't know, Dean. But I haven't seen my family or friends in 15 months. I haven't had a day off in months, I'm tired! I'm starting to hate taking photos, I hate airports and hotels." Beca cries, "My back feels like a pile of rocks from all the traveling and I'm not even sure what day it is!"

Dean just didn't know it had gotten this bad for Beca. Every time he had seen her, she seemed happy and raring to go. But it occurs to him that she may have just been faking it because she didn't want to disappoint him. Beca needed to cool down before she did something really bad, she turns her back on Dean and heads off to have a shower, praying he would be gone when she got out.

…

Beca didn't come out of her bathroom for two hours. She really needed to calm down, even though she still had every right to be angry at Dean, he was still her friend. Beca finishes drying off her hair and she looks in the mirror. She looked tired, she had dark circles under eyes and her face looked a little gaunt. She could only put that down to the fact the she forgets to eat regularly. She sighs, Stacie would kill her if she saw her looking like this. She missed her so much, she missed all of them, even Aubrey. Beca sighs, hoping she could make it through the next seven months.

Beca leaves the bathroom and heads to her kitchen for a much needed meal. As she enters the kitchen she spots Dean still in her living room.  
"Ugh! What are you still doing here?" Beca screws up her face.  
"I wanted to make sure you were ok." Dean says, with a very concerned look.  
Beca ignores him, and goes to her fridge. But as usual there's nothing there, she growls at herself for not being a capable adult.  
"I ordered some food." Dean says, quietly.  
Beca glares at him, she knew he was trying to fix things, but she was still angry with him. She slams the fridge door.  
"Please Bec, can we just talk?" Dean says, pleading, "And not about your contract, I promise."  
Beca huffs and goes and seats by Dean. She wasn't really in a talking mood, but if he was buying her food, she could just sit here silently.

Dean sighs, why hadn't he noticed that she wasn't doing well? Her work was incredible and her writing was amazing, maybe that's why he didn't see it. Dean curses at himself for letting it get this bad. Yes he was her boss, but he was also her friend and he needed to fix this somehow.  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Dean asks, looking at Beca, "Or go see Warren?"  
Beca crosses her arms staring at the wall, she wasn't much of a sharer and today's earlier outburst was just a lot of build up emotion.  
"Come on Beca.." Dean says, getting more and more concerned.  
"You guys always seemed so excited…" Beca mumbles, not looking at Dean, "I didn't want to let you guys down."  
"But Beca we're still friends, you should have told me you were having a hard time." Dean sighs.  
Beca shrugs, she was so home sick, but she just didn't want to admit it and let everyone down. It was an opportunity she wouldn't get again, and she didn't want to blow it.

The two friends sit in silence for a long time, only moving when the food arrived. Beca's body gratefully accepted it, she couldn't remember the last time she ate a good meal.  
"I've spoken to Warren." Dean says, after a while.  
Beca drops her fork annoyed, Dean stops her before she says anything.  
"Stop, I've told him you've turned down the offer. I've also given you this week off. You need to get some sleep and start eating regularly." Dean explains, "I've also suspended the rest of the Europe trips for the remainder of your contract."  
"What!" Beca stands up.  
"Emily can finish off the articles from your last trip to Greece, but the rest of the seven months will be done exploring London." He explains, "This is my fault, I was so excited that you were making the European blog so amazing, that I didn't stop to realise that you were struggling."

Beca sits back down, the thought of being in one place for a few months does sound nice. No more airports or hotel beds. But it still feels like she's taking the easy way out. Yes she was struggling, but she didn't want to bow out.  
"And before you start thinking I'm letting you take the easy way out, I'm not. We've had a lot of feedback that our customers are wanting more on London." Dean explains, "And the European blog will continue without you and Emily."  
"You're taking Emily off it too?" Beca shouts, annoyed.  
"She wouldn't do it without you anyway, Bec, you're a team. Besides, Luke keeps telling Warren he could do your job better than you, so we're going to let him try." Dean smirks, "He has a good team, but Warren is going to make him do all the traveling."

Beca frowns, why on earth would Luke want to do her job? He has a cushy office job. The confusion was evident on Beca's face so Dean explains.  
"Warren has noticed that Luke's department had been dropping while yours was smashing all the targets. Luke has been complaining it was only because you go to different places all the time and he and his team are only based in London. So, when I rang Warren before and he has decided to give Luke a chance." Dean smirks, "Since you've already established it, it shouldn't be too hard for him."  
Beca sighs, at least she wouldn't have to deal with Luke too much while she was in London.  
"And at the end of your contract, we can discuss what you want to do." He finishes.  
Beca had already thought about it, she was tired and home sick. She just needed a break, a real break.  
"I want to take a year off." Beca says, suddenly.

Dean had a feeling something like this would happen, but it was still a shock. He takes a deep breath, he had to do what was right for Beca. If he didn't help her now, she would quit and that's the last thing he wanted.  
"Ok, I will tell Warren that's what's going to happen. I wish I could have just helped you before it got this bad." Dean says, sadly.  
"Shit happens." Beca mutters, starting to eat again.  
"And as for Chloe, she never told me she stopped talking to you." He says, looking at Beca, "Do you know why?"

It was a sore subject for Beca, it's not like she hadn't tried reaching out. She has continued to call and email, but Chloe didn't respond. Stacie could only tell her she didn't want Beca to regret her decision. But not hearing from Chloe was making her regret it.  
"She didn't want me to regret going and leaving her behind." Beca says, not looking up from her meal.  
Dean sighs, a part of him regrets even suggesting to bring Beca here in the first place. It seems her London assignment had done a lot of damage on her life. But she had done so well, her work was better than he had ever seen, but at what cost. He looks at his friend, she was tired, underweight and seems a little depressed. It makes Dean extremely sad to see her like this.

…

 **The next day**

Dean was up early, he was going out and buying Beca enough food to last her for at least two weeks. He recruits Emily to help him. The two walk out of the store with a packed trolley.  
"So, Chloe never told you that she stopped talking to Beca?" Emily asks, surprised.  
"Yeah, it's so strange. She always made out that they were on good terms." Dean says, still bewildered, "A part of me wants to call her and find out what the heck is going on."  
They reach Dean's car and starts piling the groceries into the back.  
"I don't think that's a good idea." Emily muses, "Chloe must have her reasons, I'm not saying it's right, but she must have her reasons."  
"Maybe you're right." Dean sighs, loading his car, "I just wished I noticed what was happening sooner."

Emily nods, "I've tried, but she would always tell me she was fine. It started happening about five or six months ago. She just retreated into herself and I swear the only time she eats is when I'm with her. Benji and I have tried to get out of the office when we're home but she always says she's too busy."  
Emily felt helpless, she thought when Benji decided to move to London to keep studying magic that Beca would be more inclined to come out and join the world of the living. But she just piled more work onto herself.  
"I'm furious with Luke for refusing her time off." He growls, getting into his car, "Where does he get off?"  
"He's like that with everyone. The only day off I've had is when I caught the flu and I accidentally sneezed on him." Emily growls, getting into the car also, "He looked so offended, he basically threw me out of the office."  
"Jesus, that man is arsehole." Dean remarks, angrily.

"Thank you by the way." Emily says, as they make their way towards Beca's apartment.  
"What for?" Dean asks.  
"For not taking me off Beca's team, I really hate working for Luke." Emily answers, "I mean I'm sad about not traveling for a while, but it'll be nice to be in one place for a while."  
"I guess everyone needs a break." He sighs, heartedly "I suppose I've forgotten how much travelling can take a toll on you."  
"That's for sure, my chiropractor rolls his eyes every time I come in." Emily says, stretching her back in her seat, "I swear I'm losing height every trip."  
Dean sniggers, "I'm not to sure if that's possible, but I understand."

They pull up to Beca's a few minutes later, lugging all the food up to her apartment. Dean was hoping this would make up for some of the things she was going through at the moment. They knock on the door and get no answer.  
"She could be still asleep." Emily shrugs after the second attempt, "Here, I have a key."  
Dean looks at her surprised, "Does Beca know you have that?"  
"Ahhh…" Emily says, trying to avoid the question.  
The truth being, a few months back, Beca was so caught up in her work that she forgot to leave her apartment for two days. Emily made a copy of her key after that so she could go inside to make sure she wasn't dead. Emily just forgot to mention it to Beca.  
"Well, we can talk about that later, just open the door. This food is heavy." Dean says, struggling to hold the bags.

They come in and put the stuff down, the apartment looked exactly as Dean left it yesterday, but Beca was nowhere in sight.  
"You know, the first time I came to her apartment was like three months ago." Emily says, musing.  
"Really?" Dean asks, thinking that was strange.  
"Hm, we were always working, so I guess we just never got around to it." Emily shrugs, pulling stuff out of the bags.  
"Well, you should go see if she's alive. Her room is the one after the office." Dean points down the hall.  
Emily nods and sets off down the hall, she had only gone as far as Beca's office before, because that's usually where she was. Emily quickly checks the office, but she wasn't there. She continues to go down to her room. Emily opens the door, the room is really dark, but Emily could hear light snores coming from the bed.

Emily approaches the bed cautiously, not wanting to wake Beca. She peers over the bed and sees the small figure of Beca under her blankets. She appears to be clutching a photo frame, with several others laying beside her. Emily picks them up, there were pictures of her and her Mum and pictures of her friends, Chloe, Amy, Stacie and Aubrey. There was even a large photo of Chloe on a boat. Emily puts them down and gently eases the one out of her hand. It was a picture of her and Stacie when they were teens. Emily smirks, seeing Beca dressed in clothes that were too big for her, with buttons in her ears and very badly applied eyeliner. Beca suddenly stirs a little, Emily freezes, not daring to move. Beca just rolls over and sighs in her sleep. Emily lets out a little breath, before tiptoeing outside.

Emily walks back to the kitchen, still smiling at Beca's picture. It was weird to see Beca even smaller than she is now. She looked like a 12 year old next to an 18 year old Stacie. Stacie was hugging Beca with a gleeful smile, though Beca scowling heavily.  
"Is she alive?" Dean asks, as Emily enters the kitchen.  
"Yeah, she's asleep. I think her body has finally given out. She just really needs the rest." Emily says, hoping Beca would sleep as long as she needed.  
"What's that you got there?" Dean asks, spying the photo frame.  
"She had had all these frames laying out on her bed, I think she was looking at them before she fell asleep last night." Emily explains, handing the one in her hand to Dean, "She was holding this one."  
Dean takes the picture and chuckles, "Jeez not much has changed, but at least she dresses better now."

Dean looks at the duo in the picture, he had heard numerous stories about the shenanigans that Beca and Stacie had gotten into as they grew up. Then the idea strikes him, he knew how to start helping Beca. He hands the picture back to Emily and pulls out his phone. He still had Stacie's number because she was Beca's emergency contact. He dials her number.  
" _Hello…_ " Grumbles a tired voice.  
"Stacie? It's, ah, Dean Walker." Dean starts, suddenly remembering the time difference.  
" _Dean…its 2am…"_ Stacie mutters, not awake enough to sound grumpy.  
"I know, I'm sorry. I just…I need a huge favour." Dean says, sounding desperate.  
The tone in his voice makes Stacie sit up in bed, now a little scared of what he was calling her for.  
" _What do you mean? Is Beca ok? If she's in hospital, I'm gonna kill all of you._ " Stacie threatens, sounding more awake now.  
"No she's not in hospital, but.. She's not ok either." Dean admits, sighing, "Stace, I fucked up and I need your help to fix her."


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Notes: Morning Guys, great news, I'm very close to writing the ending, maybe two or three chapters to go. Which means, once its done it'll be regular updates. So, it shouldn't be long til it's finished. Anyway, lets get on to the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Stacie hurries through Heathrow International Airport. She had received a middle of the night phone call from a very guilty Dean Walker. She was furious him, she was furious with all of them. She made Dean promise her he'd make sure Beca wasn't doing too much when he went over there. She was also furious with Beca, who was just working too hard and was too stubborn to admit she needed help.  
"This is why she can't be without me!" Stacie grumbles to herself, furiously, as she grabs her luggage off the conveyor belt.  
Dean had Stacie on a plane in less than 5 hours after the phone call, she was up and gone before Chloe was even awake. She felt terrible for just leaving in the middle of the night, but Beca needed her. She left Chloe a long note explaining where she went and sent her a bunch of text messages to make sure she got the note, but Stacie knew that she would be in trouble when she finally looks at her phone.

Stacie hails herself a cab, she needed to get to Beca as quick as she can. Even though it was about one o'clock in the morning, she didn't think Beca would care. She pulls out her phone, not wanting to look at Chloe's messages yet, she calls Dean.  
"… _.What?.."_ Dean grumbles, tiredly.  
"So, you can ring me this early morning and I was all nice and said hello, but when I ring, I get a rude answer?" Stacie smirks, as she jumps into the cab.  
" _Stacie!_ _Oh you're here! Thank god!_ " Dean remarks, excitedly.  
"You're only excited because I'm here to fix everything." Stacie teases, though a little annoyed that this was the reason why she was here.  
" _I know and I'm so sorry. I have no excuses, I should have been paying more attention."_ Dean says, regretfully.  
"Yeah, yeah, it's not the only mess I'm going to have to clean up." Stacie grimaces, not wanting to think about another thing she has to fix.  
" _Why? What did you do?_ " Dean asks, yawning.  
"Not me…" Stacie answers, cryptically, "But its fine, I'll fix that too, hopefully."

The two fall silent for a moment, Stacie was a little nervous to see Beca. Even though they talk regularly, Beca hadn't told her that she wasn't doing well either. Now that Stacie thought about it, she stopped video chatting with her a few months back. It finally made sense to Stacie, Beca didn't want to worry her and was pretending she was fine. But that made Stacie feel worse, that she wasn't there to help her when Beca needed her the most.  
"Do you think she'll be happy to see me?" Stacie asks, nervously biting her thumb nail.  
" _What kind of question is that? Stacie, she's going to be so excited to see you. You may very well see the first genuine Beca Mitchell smile in months."_ Dean says, trying to reassure her.  
Stacie sighs, "I hope so, it's been so long,"  
" _I know, but trust me. She misses you more than anything, she misses all of you."_ Dean says, sincerely, " _Look, I'll call her and make sure she's awake. She should be, she slept for most of the day today._ "

Stacie nods, but makes Dean promise not to tell Beca that she was here. They both wanted it to be a surprise. Nothing like showing up randomly on your best friend's door step. Stacie leans against the door, looking out the window at all the city lights. London was beautiful, she could see Big Ben off in the distance. She smiles knowing she was getting closer to her final destination. She looks down at her phone and sees she has 15 messages from Chloe, two from Amy and a cute one from Aubrey. Most of Chloe's messages consisted of asking her what was going on and if Beca was ok. But Stacie still wasn't a 100% sure how to answer those questions yet. So she sends her a text saying that she was here and safe, and would contact her later. Despite the lack of contact, she knew Chloe cared for Beca more than anything. That was one of the things that Stacie needed to fix. Though it wasn't her fault, but she still felt a little to blame. Stacie groans, rubbing her tired eyes. It may very well be a long night.

Twenty minutes later, Stacie's cab pulls up in the heart of London in front of a large apartment building. Stacie recognised it from the pictures Beca had sent her. Stacie pays her driver and enters the building, it had a way nicer lobby than her one at home. Stacie was secretly impressed at how nice this building was. But than again, when the multi-billion dollar company you work for puts you up, you're probably going to get a nice place. She enters the elevator, a little nervous. It had been so long since they had seen each other. Would they still be the dynamic duo they've always been?

Stacie reaches Beca's floor and makes her way down the hall dragging her luggage behind her. She finds Beca's apartment, she sees light coming from under the door and hears the TV on, Beca must be awake. Stacie lifts her arm to knock, but hesitates for a moment. She takes a deep breath, Beca was her best friend, no matter what they loved each other. She knocks firmly. It takes a minute or two before she hears footsteps approaching the door. She hears a gasp, Beca must have looked through her peephole. She hears the scrambling of the door being unlocked and the door swings opened. A tired, slightly underweight Beca stands in the doorway looking more surprised than Stacie had ever seen. Her mouth was slightly ajar and her eyes were wide and shiny. It was like she couldn't believe her eyes, was she just dreaming or was Stacie really standing at her door?

"Stacie?" She says, in an almost whisper.  
"Hey Shorty, long time no see." Stacie smirks, at the awe on Beca's face.  
Tears fill Beca's eyes, as she gazes up her best friend. She launches herself forward and wraps her arms around Stacie.  
"Oofff" the wind gets knocked out of Stacie, she looks down at her friend. She had never seen Beca quite this emotional before. Stacie wraps her arms around Beca holding her tight, knowing she needed this hug more than anything. Beca starts crying, clutching Stacie as tight as she could. A few tears escape Stacie's eyes, not having heard Beca cry this much since they were teens. Stacie knew right then coming over was the right thing to do.

…

It took almost ten minutes before Beca stopped crying. Stacie had to pick her up and carry her inside the apartment because she was afraid her crying would wake up her neighbours. Stacie manages to get them to the couch where they stayed until Beca calmed down. Stacie couldn't blame her, if Stacie had virtually been on her own for 15 months and she saw Beca for the first time, she'd be sobbing too, she'd probably would be more of a mess. All Stacie could do was rub circles on Beca's back and reassure her that she would be ok. Beca starts to take deep breaths as she begins to calm down.  
"You need a shower." Beca mumbles, quietly.  
Stacie suppresses a giggle, as emotional as Beca was, she was still there. It made Stacie happy to hear the insult leave Beca's lips.  
"Damn it Beca! I travel 8 hours to see you and all you can say is that I smell?" Stacie pretends to be upset.  
"I can't help it if it's true." Beca says, wiping away the last of her tears.

Beca finally pulls back and looks up at Stacie. Stacie really sees how tired Beca looks. It seems all the traveling and work had really taken its toll on Beca. It made Stacie very sad to see her in such a state.  
"You look like shit." Stacie frowns, seeing the dark circles under her eyes.  
Beca looks at her for a moment before she bursts out laughing, for what feels like the first time in months. Stacie can see life returning back to Beca's face as she starts laughing harder, which makes Stacie laugh too. The two friends laugh until their sides hurt, it had been a very long time since they had laughed this hard. Beca knew she looked horrible, but she could feel the weight of the last 15 months melting away. Everything was alright now, now that her best friend was here.

"Not that I'm not extremely fucking happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Beca says, after she stops laughing, still very confused at how Stacie got here.  
"Well, early this morning, New York time, I got a call from one very guilty, Dean Walker." Stacie explains, "He said something about you nearly killing him?"  
Beca rolls her eyes, "God, he's so dramatic. I merely threw a chair at him before I stormed out of my work building."  
Stacie shakes her head, "What is it with you and throwing chairs at men?"  
"I dunno, it's calming." Beca says, thoughtfully.  
"So anyway, after he filled your fridge with food, another thing we need to discuss by the way," Stacie raises a disappointed eyebrow at Beca for not keeping her promise to remember to eat regularly, "He called me, I think he's brought me here as an 'I'm really fucking sorry' gift."  
Beca sighs, laying her head on Stacie's lap, "He trying so hard to fix things."  
"He feels really awful that he didn't notice things were getting bad." Stacie explains, stroking Beca's hair, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Beca stays quiet for a moment, staring at her TV. It was hard for Beca even to admit to herself let alone to someone else. She tried so hard to just focus on her work and not about how much she missed her friends and family. When Benji moved to London, it just made it worse. He was her only link to New York and it only made her miss it more. She wanted to get through it, so she could just go home.  
"I didn't what to admit I'd made a mistake coming here." Beca says, quietly.  
Stacie's mouth drops a little in surprise. She knew for at least the first six or seven months, Beca was enjoying herself. But she didn't think she would completely regret coming here.  
"Beca, please don't look at this experience as a mistake, I know that this is the hardest thing you've ever done. But in time you'll see it was the best thing for you career." Stacie reasons, trying to make her feel better.  
"But at what cost, Stace?" Beca cries, sounding a little damaged, "I've missed so much and I can't get that back."

Stacie can understand where she was coming from. Once all of this was over, Stacie was sure Beca would be ok and she would bounce back. She was resilient and tougher than anyone Stacie knew. But if Beca wanted out, she was going to support her.  
"It's ok if you want to quit Bec, I'll support you no matter what, but I need you to know that I'm really proud of you." Stacie says, continuing to stroke Beca's hair, "You've come so far from that little weird kid that was getting her arse kicked by a bunch of ballerinas."  
"Hey! I held my own against them, thank you very much!" Beca scowls, indignantly.  
"Beca..they wailed on you!" Stacie sniggers, "But what I'm trying to say is, look at what you've done. You've travel all over the world, you're inspiring people to get out of their comfort zones and find the beauty in the world."  
Beca listens to her friend, a part of Beca had forgotten why she was even taking pictures anymore. She worked so much she rarely got a chance to see what effect it was having.  
"You might not know this, but you have such a huge internet presence, people mention you or use your pictures as sources in their own articles. I've seen your pictures in people's Instagram and twitter post saying they were travel goals." Stacie continues, wanting to know how proud she was of Beca, "People love seeing the beautiful and wonderful things and places you see. It reminds them that there's more to this world than what is outside their backdoor. And that's pretty incredible."

In less than twenty minutes, Beca was feeling better than she had in over a year. She needed to have her best friend with her more than anything. A heaviness in Beca's chest starts to ease, she feels comfortable and happy for the first time in ages.  
"Thanks Stacie, you know exactly how to make me feel better." Beca says, sniffing a little, "I'm really glad you picked me as a friend."  
"Well, someone had too! A little shrimp like you wouldn't have made it out in the big world without some gigantor guiding them." Stacie smirks, earning a slap on the leg from Beca, as they both start laughing.  
Beca's laughter eases, she turns her head to look up at Stacie.  
"I'm really glad you're here, Stace!" Beca smiles, happily.  
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Stacie smiles back.  
"Cool, now go shower! You smell!" Beca shouts, sitting up from Stacie's lap.

…

"Here, I found this at the airport. Thought you could use it." Stacie says, later that day standing in Beca's kitchen.  
Stacie hands Beca a book. Beca takes the book and reads the title, glaring at Stacie afterwards.  
"Simple Recipes, so easy even an idiot can make them." Beca reads, with a huff.  
Stacie smirks, "At least you won't die for the next seven months."  
"You're not funny, you know that right?" Beca scowls, dropping the book on the counter with a thud.  
"I know, I'm just sarcastically whimsical." Stacie grins, making Beca roll her eyes at her, "Besides, I'm not the one who looks like the skeleton of a hobbit."

Beca huffs again, Stacie was right. Beca was very underweight, between all the flying and lack of sleep, the amount of food she consumed wasn't much at all. It wasn't because she didn't want to eat, she was just so busy she always forgot.  
"While I'm here, I'm going to make at least a months worth of food that can be frozen. I know you can at least use a microwave." Stacie shakes her head.  
"Excuse me! I can do more than that." Beca says, sending daggers in Stacie's direction.  
"Bec, the only thing you can make besides boiled water is Brownies. That's literally your claim to fame and honestly, that's kind of sad." Stacie says, giving Beca a pitiful look.  
"Hey! People love my brownies!" Beca says, crossing her arms.  
"Yeah, and people also love Chipotle, but it won't help you sustain life." Stacie scolds, "You're almost 25 Bec, learn to adult!" Stacie shoves the book towards Beca, who just glares at it.

Beca sighs annoyed, "Fine!" She picks up the book, "Happy?"  
Stacie smirks, "Deliriously."  
Beca rolls her eyes again, but couldn't help but be just as happy. It felt exactly like she was at home with Stacie. Nothing had changed, they were both taking care of each other while simultaneously taking the piss out of each other. Beca couldn't have wanted more, but something was missing. Rather, someone was missing.  
"I kinda wish Chloe was here too." Beca mumbles, as she flicks through the book.  
A feeling of dread fills Stacie at the mention of Chloe's name. It was one of the other problems she had to fix while she was here. While she never caused the problem, she was still going to have to try and fix it.  
"I'm sure she wishes she was here too." Stacie says, quietly.

Beca found that hard to believe, considering Chloe hadn't spoken to her in six months. Their communication had been getting less and less over time and suddenly it just stopped, with no warning. It was like Chloe had ghosted her and none of her friends would tell her why.  
"I doubt that Stace, I think she's well and truly over me." Beca says, though Stacie could hear the hurt in her voice.  
"That's not true at all, she misses you like crazy." Stacie says, earnestly.  
Beca puts the book down, "Well, she had a funny way of showing it."  
Stacie sighs, Beca gets the feeling that Stacie wasn't telling her something. Stacie looks at Beca, it was now or never.  
' _Maybe I should arm myself before I tell her.'_ Stacie muses, as she prepares to tell Beca the reason Chloe stopped talking to her.  
"Um…about that…I don't want to dob anyone in, but…ah..Amy may have had something to do with that." Stacie explains, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

Beca looks at Stacie, she looked stressed about whatever Amy did. But then it hits Beca, what the hell did Amy do? She wasn't against doing anything illegal, so whatever it was could be really crazy.  
"What did you mean, it has something to do with Amy?" Beca asks, very apprehensive.  
Stacie gives a strained look, "Well, Amy's heart was in the right place… she just has an odd way trying to protect her friends and since you're her friend too..."  
Suddenly, an old conversation she had with Amy comes back to her.

" _We both like to protect Chloe, because she can be a little too trusting for her own good. But Aubrey and I have very different ways of doing it, is all. Aubrey has a very motherly, overbearing approach." Amy explains, defending her friend's infuriating good intentions.  
_ " _And you? What is your approach?" Beca asks, curiously.  
_ _Chloe had never mentioned that Amy was protective of her, in fact Chloe always said that Amy was her breath of fresh air. Amy looks apprehensive, like she didn't want to give up her secret.  
_ " _Well, I guess I'm protective of both my best friends. It's just mines a little more… in the background, so to speak." Amy says, cryptically.  
_

 _Beca frowns, she honestly had no idea what Amy was talking about.  
_ " _What's that suppose to mean?"  
_ " _So, Aubrey barges in and protect Chloe physically and mentally, well tries to anyway. I protect them from.. potential or previous foes." Amy says, looking a little guilty.  
_ _Beca squints her eyes at Amy, beginning to understand what she might be talking about.  
_ " _Previous foes? Did you do something to Tom?" Beca asks, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question.  
_ " _Ahh… nothing he can trace back to me." Amy says, coolly.  
_ _Beca gives Amy a startled look, "What? I know people!"_

Amy had always said that she knew people everywhere, but Beca had never taken those comments at face value. She knew Amy was tough and not particular against doing what needed to be done. But just have far would she take things? The answer to that question is what made Beca uneasy. Beca takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what could be coming.  
"What did she do?" Beca asks, a little afraid.  
Stacie winces a little, "Well... we didn't know she was doing it at first. Actually we only found out about six months ago."  
"What did she do?" Beca asks, a little firmer.  
"Beca, she really meant no harm.." Stacie reasons, desperately.  
"Stacie!" Beca shouts, annoyed.  
Stacie pulls a pained face, "In certain countries, she may have occasionally…like on a rare occasion.." Stacie assures her, using gentle hand gestures, "..She may have had you…followed."

That last word hits Beca like a brick wall. Her mind was blank, she had no clue how to react to this kind of news. She looks at Stacie with wide eyes, slowly her mouth starts to drop open in shock. Her brain finally begins to process the new information.  
"WHAT!" Beca shouts, suddenly.  
Stacie doesn't answer, she just looks at Beca with a troubled look. The information didn't sit well with Stacie either, but Amy was also her boss, so she felt very conflicted keeping it a secret.  
"WHAT!" Beca shouts again.  
"I know it sounds bad…and it kind of is.." Stacie reasons, awkwardly, "But I think her intentions were good." She gives Beca a forced smile.  
"WHAT!" Beca screams, standing up and knocking over her stool.

Stacie rushes around the kitchen counter towards Beca, she needed her to calm down before she started destroying stuff.  
"Ok, I get it, you're mad. But her intentions were good, I swear!" Stacie desperately, tries to explain, "She only had you followed in few countries, just to make sure you weren't in any danger."  
"Which countries?" Beca says in a low voice, a startling change from her screaming.  
"Um..let me think…she said Russia, Albania, I think Bulgaria, definitely Ireland, but with that one she was more worried you'd get drunk and fight someone, Spain and… The Netherlands." Stacie finishes, uncomfortably.  
It was starting to make sense why Chloe didn't speak to Beca anymore. Beca was in two minds, she was slightly touched that her 'well connected' friend wanted to make sure she was safe, but she was also livered that she was followed in six countries, possibly more. Stacie could see Beca was about to blow a gasket and in all honesty she couldn't blame her. Stacie was furious with Amy when it suddenly slipped out one night.

"Hey, I know you're angry and you have every right to be. But I need you to stay calm until I finish the story. I have a feeling you're only going to get angrier." Stacie mutters the last sentence, hoping Beca didn't hear, as she pushes Beca to sit down on the couch.  
"So, about six months ago, we were having a few celebratory drinks at our apartment. Aubrey won her case for Lily. She didn't murder anyone, well I mean…" Stacie still wasn't sure how Lily was found innocent, "It doesn't matter, anyway, we were having a few drinks when you came up in conversation."  
Beca listens with glowering look on her face, wondering how long she was going to be able to stay calm before she completely lost it.  
"We were talking about all the amazing things you had done in Europe, and Amy had a little too much to drink by this point, made a weird comment, she said, ' _Those aren't the only amazing things Beca did.'_ And then she drunkenly winked at all of us. _"_ Stacie continues, edging away from Beca.

Beca's heart was now thumping really hard, "What did she mean by that?"  
"I promise that I never told her… or anyone!" Stacie cries, desperately, "But she knew! She knew about Luisa."  
Beca lowers her head to her hands, it finally all made sense. Even though Beca technically didn't do anything wrong, she always felt a little guilty she never told Chloe about her one night stand with Luisa. Emily and Benji were the only others besides Stacie that knew, well at least that's what Beca thought.  
"Chloe didn't take it all that well. I tried to explain to her that it only happened once and you had been drinking, but then she got mad at me because I didn't tell her either." Stacie says, sadly, "She didn't talk to me for a few days. When she finally let me explain, she told me if Luisa was who you wanted to be with, then she wouldn't stand in your way."  
Beca groans heavily into her hands, it was messed up, everything was messed up.


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, it seems I had some more keyboard warriors in the guest comments again on the last chapter. I didn't approve them, because some of them had some really creative language in them. But to** **these people I say, if you guys are so concerned and upset that the story is not going the way you want, why are you still reading my story? hahaha Seriously, I can't have written chapters wrong, because I'm the one that made it up. I've been laughing at these comments for a few days! :D Also to the person that commented "Bullshit! Stop writing nonsense story." I'm not even mad, I'm just concerned that you don't have a good grasp of syntax and grammar. Are you ok? Do you need some English lessons? Log in and we can provide some tuition for you. :)**

 **Anyway, this next chapter is not me giving into the incessant bitching and moaning from the bad guest comments, it just happens to coincide with the incessant bitching and moaning hahaha. Nevertheless, the next chapter is for you RJRmoviefan. Let us return to New York City.**

* * *

 **Back in New York** **  
**  
Chloe didn't have any clients today, so she had nothing to distract herself from the fact that she waiting for Stacie to call her. She woke up yesterday morning to an empty apartment, with a few texts messages and a long note. Chloe felt a little offended that Stacie didn't wake her, but she didn't have any right say it. She made her choice months ago and now she had to live with it. The silence in the apartment, much like her silence towards Beca, was starting to feel all too much. All she could do was sit on her couch with her phone beside her and throw expectant looks at it. It was pointless of course, she had only receive one text from Stacie and it was to tell her she had gotten to London safely and she would contact her soon. But soon couldn't come soon enough.

The front door opens and a well-dressed blonde enters. Aubrey look every bit a tough New York lawyer. Not to mention, she held herself a little higher these days, feeling more at home with herself and in this new city than she had ever felt in her entire life.  
"Good Morning." Aubrey sings, happily.  
"For who?" Chloe grumbles, annoyed.  
Aubrey looks at Chloe with surprise, it was usually her that was a grumpy shit in the morning.  
"What's your problem?" Aubrey asks, as she puts down her briefcase down.  
Chloe huffs, "Nothing!" But throwing a furtive look at her phone.  
"Stacie's fine, she called me this morning." Aubrey says, proving once again she could read Chloe like a book.

Chloe glares at Aubrey, but she had no right to be annoyed at her. It didn't stop her from it though. She folds her arms, turning her head to look out the window.  
"Don't be acting all annoyed that you're being kept out of the loop. You made your choice Chloe Beale and now you have to deal with the consequences of your actions." Aubrey says, firmly.  
"Excuse me?" Chloe seethes, not liking that Aubrey knew exactly what the problem was.  
"Beca tries reaching out to you all the time, and you don't answer." Aubrey says, not feeling any sympathy for Chloe, "You have basically been silent for 15 months, you don't get to be annoyed."  
"I've only been silent because I don't want to stand in her way if she wants be with that German cow." Chloe says, sounding incredibly jealous.  
"Bullshit Chloe, you were being weird before you found out about her and you won't tell us why. Besides, we both know you're jealous as hell about Luisa and you don't want to admit it!" Aubrey rolls her eyes, Chloe was a lot of things, but subtle wasn't one of them, "Green isn't a good shade on you."

Chloe grumbles to herself not wanting to look at Aubrey. Chloe knew Beca wasn't with Luisa but after Amy informed her of their late night hook up Chloe couldn't help but be very jealous. Chloe thought the Luisa was better looking than her, and Beca and her had history, so maybe Beca would rather her over Chloe.  
"They're not even together, so I don't understand why you're acting so irrational. It's very unlike you!" Aubrey purses her lips, giving her friend a hard stare.  
"But they tag each other in things on Facebook sometimes." Chloe mumbles, "And who knows if they keep in regular contact."  
Aubrey rolls her eyes, Beca tags her in random stuff too and calls her regularly, it didn't mean they were having sex.  
"For god's sake, Chloe! You're the one who stopped talking to Beca! If you're so upset just call her!" Aubrey says, exasperatedly.  
"What for? So I can interfere in her new found love, no thank you!" Chloe says, extremely jealous, proving that her jealousy makes her incredibly irrational.  
"Interfere in what? IT WAS ONE TIME!" Aubrey shouts, making Chloe jump, "All Beca does is work! Why do you think Stacie left in the middle of the night to get on a plane to London?"  
Chloe only had a vague inkling to what was happening and the reason no one was really telling her what was happening was because she had stopped talking to Beca. She had no one to blame but herself.

"Dean tried to extend Beca's contract by another year and Beca snapped. She threw a chair at him and stormed out of the building. When he finally realised what had been happening, he rang Stacie to fly her over to fix his mess." Aubrey explains, "According to Stacie, Beca is very underweight and a little depressed. It's partly because she works constantly and forgets to eat, but mainly because a certain red head no longer speaks to her."  
Aubrey crosses her arms, giving Chloe an unimpressed look. Chloe hadn't realised things had gotten bad, she thought she was doing the right thing by keeping her distance. She thought by staying out of Beca's way she wouldn't regret leaving. But Chloe's actions seemed to have only made things worse.  
"She always asks about you. She's always checking up to see if you're doing ok. She misses you like crazy." Aubrey says, determined to make Chloe break, "How do you feel that I now have a better relationship with Beca than you do?"

That question hits Chloe to her core. Aubrey hated Beca, when all Chloe wanted was for her to love her and now they're friends and Chloe and Beca no longer speaking. Chloe's hands spring to her mouth as the shock takes over her. What did she do? She tried to keep her distance so Beca wouldn't regret leaving, but she may have pushed away the best thing that ever happened to her. Tears begin to prick in Chloe's eyes, she messed up, badly. But now she didn't know how to fix it.  
"What did I do?" Chloe's says, her voice starting to break.  
Aubrey sighs, ' _Finally!_ '  
"When can you get time off work?" Aubrey asks, pulling out her phone.  
"Um… I can just rearrange my clients, why?" Chloe asks, trying hard to keep her tears from falling.  
"Well, obviously we're going to go see the hobbit." Aubrey tuts, dialling Amy's number.

" _Breezy Bree, what's up?_ " Amy answers, sounding happy.  
"You owe me a favour and I'm calling to collect." Aubrey says, firmly.  
" _Pray tell what favour this would be?_ " Amy asks, a little a taken back by the bluntness in Aubrey's voice.  
"Well, I could be here all day going through all the ones you owe me, but let's go with the most recent one. I got you're Chef out of trouble and is no longer a suspect in a murder investigation." Aubrey folds her arms, as she watches tears starting to roll down Chloe's face.  
" _Ahhh…sure ok, what do you need?_ " Amy agrees, now being very nice.  
"Remember 8 months ago when I told you not to buy a private jet but you did anyway?" Aubrey asks, still having trouble believing Amy bought a private jet.  
" _Yeah, and she's beautiful. What about Airlene?_ " Amy asks, now interested in what Aubrey needs.  
"Well moving past the fact you named the plane, Airlene.." Aubrey rolls her eyes, thinking that was the dumbest name for a plane she had ever heard of, "In a two days' time you, me and Chloe are flying to London to see Beca."

There was a small amount of silence on Amy's end. Amy was clearly thinking of whether that was a good idea or not.  
" _Who says I even have time to go to London?_ " Amy questions, hoping she'll once come out on top in battle of wits with Aubrey.  
"I don't care, you will make time! Stacie and I are trying to fix a certain mess you made, so the least you could do is take us to London." Aubrey growls, in her lawyer voice.  
" _Hey now! I didn't force Beca to sleep with that smokin' hot German chick!_ " Amy argues, defensively, " _She did that all on her own!_ "  
"Regardless of who Beca had intimate relations with.." Aubrey says, in a low voice, but Chloe let out a little sob, "You shouldn't have had her followed."  
" _It was for her own good! I was just making sure she didn't die!_ " Amy remarks, annoyed, " _No one ever appreciates the nice things I do!_ "  
Aubrey lets out a strained sigh, "Amy, I love you, but you're going to put me in an early grave. Just have the plane ready in two days."

...

"I still don't understand why we didn't tell them we're coming." Aubrey huffs, as she takes her seat in the luxury private jet.  
"I messed up ok, and I need to make it right. It needs to be a grand gesture, to really show her how sorry I am." Chloe says, using big hand gestures.  
"A grand gesture? Have you been marathoning Romcoms again, Red?" Amy asks, walking into the cabin.  
Chloe turns in her chair and frowns at Amy, "I've been at home for almost four days by myself, what else was I supposed to do?"  
"I dunno, masturbate?" Amy offers, with a reasonable look.  
"Ew." Aubrey and Chloe groan, pulling disgusted looks at Amy.  
Amy looks slightly offended at the two of them, "Oh excuse me! I didn't know you pair of prissy bitches were above self-pleasuring."  
"God, that sounds worse!" Chloe shakes her head, "Look Ames, I love you, but I don't feel like talking about my me time with you."  
"You've changed Red!" Amy frowns, shaking her head.

The three of them take their seats and buckle up for take-off. The jet was very spacious, towards the front of the plane hosted two large built in white lounges facing each other, with single reclining seats placed in row with the lounges. Towards the back was a separate room that was a beautiful bedroom with an ensuite. It housed a king sized bed with a comfy mattress and the bathroom had a spa bath. Amy spared no expense on this plane, if you touched certain panels along the walls a mini built in bar or LED TV would pop up. Airlene was everything Amy could hope for and was very impressed with her custom trimmings. Chloe looks around, she knew Amy was rich and came from a good family, but she couldn't help but wonder, just how much money did Amy have?  
"The plane is beautiful Amy." Chloe remarks, swinging in her chair slightly.  
"Yep, now I have a great team in place at Memories, I can finally start travelling every now and then. Which is why I bought Airlene, worth every penny." She grins, proudly patting the wall.

"I still don't understand why you need a private jet, why can't you just travel first class?" Aubrey asks, swinging her chair to face Amy.  
"Just because I'm a self-proclaimed Bogan, doesn't mean I still can't have fancy things." Amy responds, to two confused faces.  
"What the hell is a bogan?" Chloe mutters to Aubrey, who shrugs, they've never fully understood the Australian language.  
Once they reach cruising altitude, a rather handsome flight attendant comes out to serve them. He brings the women drinks and fancy hors d'oeuvres. He lingers around Amy giving her close attention.  
"Do you require anything else Miss Jones?" He asks her, giving her a loving look.  
"Nah, we're good for now. Maybe go turn down the bed, I might go have a nap later." Amy waves dismissively, not giving him a second glance.  
"As you wish." He says, giving her a little bow before walking off into the bedroom.

Aubrey and Chloe stare at Amy completely bewildered at what just occurred. The man was about 5'10 with dark brown hair, beautiful olive skin and a muscly build. But what really confused Aubrey and Chloe was that he seemed very smitten by Amy. Which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact the he was her employee.  
"Ames, I think your flight attendant likes you." Chloe remarks, once he was out of earshot.  
Amy sips her drink and shrugs, "Probably, I have lots of men that have fallen in love with my sexy fat arse."  
"Are you two hooking up?" Aubrey asks, wondering if she had another lawsuit in her hands.  
Amy turns her chair towards the bedroom door, "Currently? No. But hey, it's a long flight."  
Chloe always knew Amy was very sexily active, but she had never seen anyone look at Amy like that before. It was a little unnerving to Chloe, just how much did she actually know about Amy Jones? She goes to ask another question, but decides not to, maybe it was better for everyone that she didn't know.

After a few hours, Amy had gone off for a nap, leaving Aubrey and Chloe in the main cabin. The handsome flight attendant was serving them more food and drinks. He throws sneaky glances towards the bedroom every now and then. It was clear, he really had a thing for Amy. The more Chloe watched him, the sweeter she thought it was.  
"They'd make a cute couple." Chloe mutters to Aubrey, so he didn't hear her.  
"Amy doesn't do 'couples'." Aubrey says, bluntly, "He's lining himself up for heart break."  
The handsome attendant moves away, neither woman noticing.  
"Damn Bree, just smash his little dream." Chloe raises her eyebrows at her bluntness.  
"What? I'm just saying, Amy isn't like us. She doesn't want to be tied down." Aubrey explains, with a sigh, "She told me once she's on a walkabout."  
"What the hell does that mean?" Chloe asks, very confused.  
"I'm not completely sure, I googled it and from what I can gather is it's some kind of a spontaneous journey." Aubrey pulls puzzled look, "I'm assuming she just likes knowing she can do what or whoever she wants. I don't think settling down is on the cards for our Amy."

"I guess that's one way to live life." Chloe shrugs, "Do you think you'll ever get married and settle down?"  
The question surprises Aubrey, she and Stacie had been getting really close again. Actually taking the time to get to know each other properly. They had been on a few dates, but were taking things very slow. Because when they rushed it, it turned into a disaster. Aubrey hadn't thought that far ahead with Stacie, but maybe one day it would be nice.  
"I don't know." Aubrey says, now really thinking, "I mean, it might be nice one day."  
Chloe grins, "I think you and Stacie would be cute as wife and wife."  
Aubrey blushes, "What about you and Beca?" She asks, trying to get the subject off her.  
Chloe sighs, sadly, "I just I hope she can forgive me. I messed up so badly. I'll be surprised if she'll even talk to me."  
"I'm sure she will, but you did hurt her acting like a jealous idiot." Aubrey says, reminding her it wasn't going to be easy winning Beca back.

Chloe huffs, "Like you can talk, you practically threatened to legally destroy Stacie's co-worker Uni if he didn't back off."  
Aubrey blushes again, "I have no idea what you're talking about."  
Chloe smirks, and mutters, "Yeah right."  
"Hm! All I'm saying is you're going to have to do a lot to make up for what you did." Aubrey changes the subject back to Chloe.  
"I know." Chloe whines, "If it just wasn't the German chick, it wouldn't be so bad."  
Aubrey rolls her eyes, "Jesus Christ, get over it Chloe! You guys are paused, on a break, broken up, whatever you want to call it. You also agreed you could see other people. Who cares if it was some person from Beca's past, she has been overseas for almost two years. Cut the girl some slack!"  
"But…" Chloe tries to protest.  
"No buts! Besides it was one time!" Aubrey snaps, exasperatedly before standing up, "Time to move on if you want her back. Besides, your issues started long before the German showed up."

Chloe watches Aubrey walks towards the bedroom, she was going to use the bathroom. Chloe knew she was right, she had to get past the idea that Beca was with another woman. She didn't do anything wrong and Chloe knew she wouldn't be half this jealous if it was anyone other than Luisa. Chloe sighs crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat. Suddenly, Aubrey shouts and runs back into the main cabin. Chloe looks at her startled.  
"My eyes!" Aubrey gasps, clutching her chest and covering her eyes.  
"What's wrong?" Chloe gasps, standing up, "What happened?"  
Aubrey clamps her lips shut and shakes her head, seemingly too terrified of what she just saw to even speak. Chloe looks back toward the bedroom, suddenly Chloe realises she hadn't seen the flight attendant in a little while. She looks back to Aubrey who was looked more pale than she usually does.  
"Aubrey, please don't tell me they're not back there…" Chloe starts to ask, before a very satisfied moan travels out to the main cabin, "Oh My God!" Chloe gasps, covering her mouth.

It seems Amy was just as into the handsome flight attendant as he was into her. Judging by the loud moaning coming from the bedroom. Chloe couldn't believe what she was hearing, and suddenly didn't find the thought of the two together cute anymore.  
"Good lord!" Chloe gasps, "He was only serving us drinks like ten minutes ago."  
"Yes, well now he's in there serving Amy!" Aubrey says, sounding horrified, desperately trying to block out the noise.  
"Why is it getting louder?" Chloe cries, covering her ears.  
"At least someone's enjoying this flight." Aubrey grumbles, throwing herself in her seat.  
"Did they even notice you?" Chloe asks, frowning.  
"I don't know, even if they did, I don't think they cared!" Aubrey says, taking deep breaths, "I think that image will be burnt into my brain forever."

Suddenly, a large thud and the sound of things falling comes from the bedroom. It sounded like they fell off the bed or were moving violently around the room.  
"Oh my god! Should we check if they're ok?" Chloe gasps, looking towards the bedroom.  
"Not if you want an eye full of skin!" Aubrey yells, not wanting the same fate for Chloe.  
"But what if they're hurt?" Chloe says, worried, but at the same time not wanting to go check either.  
"Then that would be their own fault!" Aubrey crosses her arms very annoyed, "And I didn't even get to pee! They are so inconsiderate!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, in honour of the fact that I'm** **about to start writing the final chapter, (yes, I have finally made it) I thought I would post another chapter today. Also, this one and the next few are some of my favourites. So I really hope you enjoy them as much as I did** **writing them. And Happy Independence Day to all of my American readers. Have a great and safe day. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Standing in a large glass pod, Stacie and Beca look out over the city of London. Stacie grabs Beca and pulls her into a selfie with the Big Ben in the background. Stacie laughs at Beca's grumbling, but Beca secretly loving it. It had been so long since she had gone on an adventure with Stacie. Stacie had been in London for four days and she had been stuffing Beca with food ever since. Beca still looked a little underweight, but she was looking less gaunt. Beca had also been sleeping better and honestly hadn't felt this good in months.  
"Beca, this city is beautiful!" Stacie says, in awe, looking at all the beautiful buildings.  
"It's a cool place, but I do miss New York." Beca says, with a sigh.  
"It smells better here though." Stacie says, thoughtfully.  
"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the smell of grime and urine." Beca admits, with a sheepish grin.  
"With a mix of dirty water hotdogs and a mountain load of trash bags." Stacie sniggers, as Beca starts laughing, nodding her head.

Beca turns back towards the window as their pod gets higher, she brought her camera with her today. She takes care not to get to close to the edge as Beca's heart thumps a little. Being up this high never sat to well with Beca. She takes a deep breath before she snaps a few pictures of the city, capturing the most famous parts of London.  
"I thought you weren't supposed to be working this week." Stacie says, with a whine.  
"I'm not, I just figured since we're up here, I'd take some pictures." Beca shrugs, before muttering, "And if I do it now, I won't have to come back up here again."  
"Oh Hello Scaredy Cat Beca, it's been a few years." Stacie says, sarcastically.  
"Shut up! I'm just not good with heights, you know that. Besides, I'm only up here because you wanted to come up here." Beca rolls her eyes, snapping another photo.  
"Sure blame me for wanting to do touristy things. You know, we haven't had an adventure since we went to Niagara Falls. Almost four and a half years, Beca!" Stacie cries, "So don't make me feel bad for wanting to do something awesome with my best friend in the whole wide world. You could at least pretend you're enjoying yourself."  
"God! Laying guilt trip on a bit thick, aren't we Stace?" Beca says, rather amused, "Fine, I won't whinge about it. I'm enjoying myself. See?" Beca plasters a huge smile on her face.

Stacie grins, she had missed bantering with Beca. She will be sad to leave her again, but she know it's only for a few more months and then Beca is coming home for good. Stacie couldn't wait for Beca to come home, New York hadn't been the same without her. Stacie throws her arms around Beca, giving her a giant squeeze.  
"Why is this happening?" Beca asks, a little startled.  
"Can't I just hug you without you being suspicious?" Stacie says, squeezing her harder.  
Beca smirks, knowing how much Stacie had missed her. She feels extremely loved as her best friend continues to hug her.  
"Ok, ok, I won't question your motives, but I'm still not putting out tonight." Beca jokes, remembering she woke up with Stacie spooning her this morning.  
Stacie lets go suddenly, "Well, damn Beca!"

 ***ring ring***

"I'm going to answer this, but I'm going to pretend that our friendship is more than just friendly hugs, because if it's not, than I don't even know why I'm here!" Stacie pretends to be very offended that Beca's not willing to have sex with her, "And don't get to close to window, it might break."  
Beca knows she's joking, but she eyes the window cautiously. Stacie smirks at Beca taking her words a little seriously. She looks down at her phone and sees Aubrey is calling her.  
"Hey Bree." She answers, gleefully.

Beca ignores the conversation and lifts her camera to take pictures of the surrounding areas of the London Eye. She pans down toward the riverside, she see a cool little market place set up by the River Thames. There were so many people out and enjoying themselves. So many people laughing and smiling, enjoying the beautiful spring day. She takes a picture of the happy people, when something catches her eye. Someone was sitting on the large cement wall that was built along the river, just dangling their legs over the edge. Beca found this behaviour very strange, the last thing you want to do is to fall into the river. Beca zooms in a little closer and is shocked at who she sees.

* **click***

' _That couldn't have been her, could it?_ ' Beca thinks, lift her face away from her camera.  
"WELL WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HER? HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOSE HER?" Stacie shouts, very concerned.  
The shouting temporally startled Beca, she looks up and sees a very white looking Stacie. Beca turns back to the river, trying to find the person she saw again, but alas she was gone.  
"I'm 400ft in the air at the moment, I'm not going to be any help for at least another 20 minutes!" Stacie stresses, clutching her head.  
Something about that sentence tweaks Beca's interest, briefly forgetting the weird picture she just took. She looks over at Stacie. She wraps up the call promising to help as soon as the get back on the ground.  
"What was that about?" Beca asks, looking up from her camera.  
"Ah, so it turns out Aubrey, Amy and Chloe decided to come over for a visit." Stacie explains, "But they stopped to get some food and they got separated from Chloe."  
Beca's eyes widen in surprise, suddenly remembering the surprising picture she took. She clicks open her photos. She pulls up the one she just took.  
"I knew it! I knew it was her!" Beca exclaims, pointing at her camera, "I saw her sitting down by the river! I thought I was hallucinating."

Stacie rushes over to look at the picture and there she was, Chloe Beale, sitting on the concrete wall letting her red hair blow in the breeze. Her red hair sparkles in the sun and she has a very relaxed look on her face as she leans back embracing the sun on her face. Everything around her is busy and chaotic, but Chloe seems to not even notice.  
"Once again, you take an amazing picture of our reckless woman." Stacie shakes her somewhat amused.  
"She appears at very strange times in my life, doesn't she?" Beca muses, staring down at the picture.  
"That she does. I better call Aubrey and give her an area they can search. Chloe's apparently not answering her phone." Stacie says, taking out her phone.  
"I can't believe they're here. Why didn't they tell us?" Beca asks, surprised.  
"They wanted it to be a surprised, I guess." Stacie shrugs as she puts the phone to her ear, "We'll down soon and we can look for her."  
Beca turns back to the window, looking out over the city again. She was closer to Chloe than she had been in 15 months. The thought makes her heart rate quicken.

…

"Ok, ok, I get it! I'm not allowed to sit on the wall." Chloe says to the police officer that was pulling her through the crowded market place.  
"Miss, you could have fallen in." He grunts, annoyed.  
"I'm sorry, I got lost and being by the water calms me down." Chloe says, sheepishly.  
"I don't care what your excuse is. If I see you near the wall again, I will arrest you." The officer rolls his eyes, "Bloody Yanks!" He mutters as he walks away.  
Chloe breaths a sigh of relief, the last thing she needed was to get arrested. She walks back through the market place, looking at all the pretty wares that are for sale. Chloe looks around, she wasn't completely sure where she was. A part of her feels guilty for wandering off on Aubrey and Amy. They stopped for food and Chloe got distracted and then got lost in the crowd. Somehow she ended up here.

But the market place was very cool, Chloe decides to stick around for a while. Maybe her friends weren't to far away and if she stayed in one area they'll probably find her. Chloe continues to look at all the stalls, gazing at all the interesting items for sale. She walked around the markets for another 10 minutes, purchasing a few items that would go well in her room back home. Chloe looks around again, she still hadn't come across her friend's yet.  
"Maybe I'll just call them." Wondering why on earth she didn't think of that before.  
She reaches into her bag to look for her phone when she realises it's not there. Chloe tries not to panic too much.  
' _At least I'm in an English speaking country._ ' Chloe thinks, trying not feel too overwhelmed.  
Chloe can't seem to recall the hotel they decided to stay in, they came here so quickly and Aubrey was the one who booked everything. She instead tries to remember where Beca lived, maybe she could go there instead. She takes a deep breath and thinks about all the things that Beca said to her about where she lived. She remembers something about her living near Hyde Park. Maybe she could catch a cab over there or maybe she could walk.  
"It can't be that far." Chloe thinks out loud.

She asks someone walking past her how Hyde Park was from here. They informed her it wasn't far by car but it was at least a 35 minute walk. Chloe was already lost in a foreign city, she didn't want to make her situation worse. She decides to take a cab. She hops into a shiny black cab, asking to be taken to Hyde Park. She was eternally grate she still had her purse with all of her money and ID. Chloe gazes out the window as they crossed the Westminster Bridge. Chloe looks up at Big Ben, wishing she knew where her phone was so she could take pictures. She couldn't believe what a beautiful city London was, it seemed so historic. Chloe lets out a gasp as she sees the Buckingham Palace come into view.  
"So pretty!" Chloe gasps in awe at the magnificent structure.  
A few minutes later Hyde Park comes into view. It was then Chloe starts to get a little worried. She didn't realise Hyde Park was huge.

After Chloe pays the taxi driver and gets out. She looks around at the beautiful park, but it wasn't providing her any comfort.  
"Well shit! It's almost the size of Central Park." Chloe anxiously, turning her head from side to side.  
Looking around nothing about her surroundings looked like Beca ever described to her, maybe Beca didn't live near here after all or maybe she lived on the other side.  
"Jesus Chloe, why didn't you just stay where you were?" Chloe huffs at herself.  
Chloe notices a hotel across from the park. She's not sure if it was her one but she might be able to use a phone. She enters the hotel, admiring the fancy foyer. Marble floors as far as the eye can see with a big fountain right in the middle. Chloe approaches the main desk, explaining her situation. The happily let her use the phone.

"Hello…Aubrey.." Chloe says, finally reaching her.  
" _Where the hell are you? I have been calling you for almost an hour!_ ' Aubrey shouts down the phone.  
"I'm sorry I got lost. I was near the London eye for a while but I still couldn't find you, so now I'm near Hyde Park." Chloe explains, looking around.  
" _Hyde Park! That's no where near where we are! Jesus! Why didn't you call us?"_ Aubrey continues to shout.  
"I've lost my phone, I'm sorry!" Chloe apologies, feeling a little guilty.  
" _You've obviously lost your mind too!_ " Aubrey mutters, very annoyed and worried, " _Just tell me exactly where you are and don't move!_ "

Chloe gives Aubrey the details of the hotel she was currently in, promising she wouldn't leave. Chloe felt a little guilty having made her friends very worried. The woman at the desk says she should wait in the bar and would tell her friends where she was when they arrived. Chloe walks into the bar that was just off the the foyer. It had beautiful white panelled walls, with grand chandeliers hanging from the moulded ceiling. The bar had beautiful hardwood floors and expertly crafted leather chairs at every table. Behind the very long bar was built in glass shelves that were all lit up to show off the types of alcohol they carried. Off to side of the room were floor to ceiling windows, giving guests fantastic views over Hyde Park. The bar was fairly empty, it was just after lunch. Chloe presumed she missed the lunch time rush. She goes and sits up at the bar and orders a drink. She might as well have one after the day she's having.

"Well it least it can't get any worse." She mutters to herself as her drink gets put in front of her.  
"What can't, love?" Asks the bartender.  
Chloe looks up and sees a man smiling at her, he wouldn't be older than 50 with average built and salt and pepper hair.  
"My day." Chloe answers with a sigh.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks, with a grin.  
"Isn't that a little cliché? Talking about your life's problems with a bartender?" Chloe smirks a little.  
The man chuckles heartedly, "I suppose you're right, but I can't imagine it would hurt."  
"I guess so." Chloe shrugs, "Have you ever messed up really badly and you're not sure how to fix it?"  
The man thinks for a moment, "I guess that depends on what you did."

Chloe sighs taking a long drink from her glass of wine.  
"My girlfriend and I broke up a while ago because she came over here for work." She starts, "I thought we could stay in touch and it wouldn't matter how long she was gone for. And then when she got back home, we could just get back together."  
"So you're an optimist?" He asks, leaning against the counter.  
Chloe snorts, "Yeah, I guess I am."  
"Well that's not always a bad thing." He smiles kindly.  
"But I didn't stay in touch like I really wanted too." Chloe admits, continuing the story.  
"How come?" He asks, seemingly interested in Chloe's story.  
"A few reasons…But, I thought if I stayed away, she wouldn't regret leaving." Chloe leanings her head again her hand.  
"Did that work?" He asks, tilting his head.  
"No." Chloe says before taking another mouthful of her drink.

The man can see his customer was having a rough day, so he continues to listen to her story hoping he can make her feel better.  
"So, is that what you did to mess up?" He asks, wondering if he was close.  
"Pfft! I wish! You see, I found out she had a one night stand with her high school crush while she was travelling." She explains, "And I kind of lost it and stop the contact with her all together."  
"So, you were jealous?"  
"Yeah." Chloe's sighs, disappointed in herself.  
"But, she didn't do anything wrong, right? You guys aren't together." He says, trying to figure out what kind of advice he needed to give.  
"I know, I had no right to get upset! But you should see this woman!" Chloe says, trying not to feel so bad about being jealous, "She's this gorgeous 6ft blonde German Goddess. She has these big beautiful blue eyes, amazing smile and a body any woman would kill for. Oh and of course she turns out to be a god damn model! Ugh! I can't stand it!"  
"Did you stalk her on social media?" He gives her a raised eyebrow.  
"I am offended that you would insinuate that I would do such a th…" Chloe starts, quite offended, before the bartender's face makes her admit the truth, "Yeah ok, I did!"  
The bartender gives her a sympathetic laugh, "Well love, you can't help your feelings, but you should talk to ex girlfriend. Maybe you can still fix things."

Chloe smiles at him, "That's what I'm doing here in London. I came over to surprise her, but I got separated from my friends and ended up here. I'm waiting for them to come get me now, because of course, I also lost my phone."  
"I can see now why you're having such a rough day." He chuckles, "But the universe is a funny place, so don't go saying you're day can't get worse again, because I can guarantee it'll throw something else at you."  
Chloe laughs nervously, "Oh god! I hope not!"  
"Ah, look love, your friends will be here soon and you can get everything sorted out." He gives her a genuine smile, "But until then, I'm Arthur, your friendly bartender."  
He holds his hand out to shake Chloe's, she laughs lightly, taking his hand and shaking it.  
"I'm Chloe, the crazy American."  
"It's a pleasure. Now let me get you another drink, it'll calm the nerves." He says, giving her a knowing wink.

Arthur walks away to get Chloe another drink. Chloe turns her stool to look out the window. Hyde Park reminded her so much of Central Park, though not quite as many trees. Chloe relishes in the thought she would be speaking to Beca really soon. She could apologise for everything. She hopes they could start over, maybe even if they just start out as friends again. Chloe would take anything at this point. Chloe turns her stool back around, she suddenly hears footsteps approaching her. It couldn't be Aubrey yet, she had only been in the bar for 5 or so minutes. She turns her head slightly just to have a glimpse of who entered. Chloe's stomach drops and her breath catches in her throat.  
' _Holy. Fuck._ ' Chloe thinks as they walk past her and sit down the other end of the long bar.  
Chloe seems rooted to her seat, her heart starts to race and she begins to get incredibly nervous. She feels a lump in her throat as she turns her head towards the other end of the bar.  
"Oh my god!" Chloe whispers, snapping her head back to her empty glass.

Arthur begins to return with a new glass of wine for Chloe, speaking with the new guest that he'd be back in a second.  
"Here we are love, a nice glass of liquid courage otherwise known as Moscato." He chuckles, before noticing Chloe was having a mild freak out, "What's the matter?"  
"Arthur!" Chloe whispers as quietly as she could, "That's her!"  
Arthur had been a bartender for a long time, so when a customer gives a general point to something, while giving a panicked whisper, he knew not to be obvious when he looked. He slowly gives the customer another glance, before he realises who she's talking about. She was tall, blonde, with big beautiful blue eyes.  
"The German goddess?" He asks, whispering back, Chloe nods desperately, "Oh damn, the universe is really messing with you today!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, updates are going to be pretty regular from now on. I have a few paragraphs left to go in the final chapter and a little bit of editing. So, you will all soon find out how this story ends. But until then, the next chapter. How does Chloe react to Luisa? Enjoy! :)**

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Of all the hotels that were on this street, Chloe had to pick this one. Why did she pick this one? Chloe mentally kicks herself as she turns her stool slightly, facing away from her current cause of anxiety. Chloe knew she couldn't leave the hotel, but if she didn't leave she could be putting herself in the most awkward situation she would ever be in. She hears the blonde woman order herself a drink, the sound of her voice sends a shiver down Chloe's spine. This surprises Chloe, she had never felt any kind of attraction or feelings towards this woman, only jealousy. A melodic laugh travels down the bar causing goosebumps to erupt all over Chloe's body. Chloe turns herself back glancing at the woman, she had a beautiful wide smile on her face as talks to Arthur the bartender. Chloe takes a deep breath, what was happening to her? She picks up her new glass of wine and takes a very deep drink.

She remembers Stacie saying this woman give off an odd sexual energy, something Chloe never quite believed. Did she think she was beautiful? Of course. But she never really understood Beca's attraction. But sitting here, hearing her deep voice and beautiful laughter, Chloe could feel it, this energy Stacie spoke of. She had never experienced anything like it before. While she had no interest in having any kind of interaction with her, she found herself very compelled by her somehow. Like she had no choice but to pay attention. Chloe shakes her head, she was being stupid.  
' _This is your number one enemy, Chloe! Don't go getting soft because she's extremely sexy._ ' Chloe scolds herself.  
She takes another deep drink from her glass as Arthur comes back over.  
"How are we doing over here, love?" He asks, quietly.  
"Trying to hide." Chloe whispers, trying hide behind her almost empty glass of wine.  
"I hate to break it to you Chloe, but I think your hair kind of makes you stand out." He chuckles a little.

Arthur continues to chuckle as Chloe groans covering her face as she drains the rest of her glass. Somehow she had forgotten her fiery red hair and how much she stands out wherever she goes.  
"Oh god! Why is she here? You don't think she's here to see Beca?" Chloe asks, in a frantic whisper.  
"Well, I don't know who Beca is, but I think she's here for work by the sound of it. Oh…Looks like you've been spotted." Arthur says suddenly, watching the blonde stand up from her seat and start to approach Chloe.  
"Oh my god! Arthur do something!" Chloe whispers, desperately.  
He leans in and grabs Chloe's empty glass, "I'll get you another drink."  
He grins and starts to walk away, "No! Don't leave me! Arthur!" She whispers, frantically, reaching over the bar to grab him.  
But it was no good, he was too smart to get involved in this conversation. The tall blonde comes and sits beside Chloe, giving her a hard stare. Chloe wasn't even looking at her yet she could feel the blue eyes boring into her soul. Chloe swallows hard, wondering if she should run.  
' _Do I run? Or will that be too obvious that I'm terrified of her?_ ' Chloe thinks, now understanding why Beca used to be so scared of this woman.

"Are you Chloe Beale?" She asks, confidently.  
A small tremor shoots through Chloe. She knows who Chloe is. Chloe tries not to panic, this was it, she was finally going to face her competition. She had to brace herself, she had to be as confident as this woman appeared. Chloe turns and faces her, Chloe's electric blue eyes meets her ocean blue ones.  
"I am." Chloe says, trying to sound confident.  
A huge excited smile spreads over the woman's face, lighting up her already stunning features.  
"I thought that was you. I am Luisa, a friend of Beca's." She says, excitedly.  
The happiness and excitement throws Chloe, she expected some kind of fight or argument. But this woman appeared to be nothing be pleased to meet her.  
' _What's her game?'_ Chloe thinks, frowning slightly at this woman.  
"Beca speaks of you often, liebling." She says, her German accent ever present in her words.  
"Um.. She does?" Chloe asks, trying hard not to look at her as she was starting to get lost in her amazing eyes.  
"Of course, I mean who would not want to talk about you. You are schön." She smiles, giving Chloe a looking up and down.

Chloe's not sure what was going on and what exactly did Luisa just called her? Should she be offended or flattered? Chloe certainly didn't know. All Chloe could do was sit there and stare at the incredibly beautiful woman. Luisa could see the confusion mounting on Chloe's face, she knows she shouldn't be messing with her, but she just wanted to see if this woman was as great as Beca says she is.  
"You are a masseuse, no?" Luisa asks, giving Chloe her full attention.  
"Yes, but I specialise in remedial therapy." Chloe answers, wondering where this conversation was heading.  
"Ah, Beca is very lucky. She tells me you're very good with your hands." Luisa smirks, giving Chloe a little wink.

Chloe blushes, though she's not even sure why. But this wasn't the part of the conversation that was bothering her. Luisa is virtually confirming that she and Beca kept in regular contact. Chloe's little green monster raises her head.  
"So, you and Beca talk a lot?" Chloe says, through gritted teeth.  
Luisa throws her head back and laughs, causing the goosebumps to erupt again over Chloe's body.  
"A lot? I would be so lucky to get a message once every few weeks. Beca has been very much.. how do you say..ah.. married to her work." Luisa explains, hoping she said the right saying, "Though, she has been rather down of late."  
"You don't say." Chloe mutters, really wishing Arthur would come back with another drink already.  
"But you are here now, no? This shall make that grumpy maus smile again." She playfully nudges Chloe's arm.  
' _Oh my god! Her hands are so soft!'_ Chloe thinks, surprising herself that that was the thing she noticed, ' _What the fuck is wrong with you, Chloe?_ '

"So, where is meine tiny maus, hm?" Luisa asks, looking around expectantly.  
"Ah, I don't know. I'm not sure she even knows I'm here yet. I got separated from my friends." Chloe admits, hoping Arthur would finally come back.  
A little smirk plays on Luisa's lips, a tiny part of her says, " _Don't do it, Luisa, maus will be very mad at you._ " But the rest of her tells her, " _Just go for it, what's the worst that could happen?_ "  
"You must be very nervous to see Beca again, no? Maus says you haven't spoken in quite a while." Luisa says, trying to find which insecurities she could play on.  
She didn't want to be having this conversation with Luisa, she was literally the last person she wished to be talking to right now. Yet in spite of herself, Chloe felt very compelled to answer.  
"I am, it's been so long and it's all my fault!" Chloe cries, suddenly feeling the effects of her previous two drinks and the onset of jet lag.  
"Oh liebling, you seem upset. Come, we will drink and we will talk about it." Luisa smiles warmly, signalling for Arthur to come back over with Chloe's drink.  
Luisa doesn't order one for herself, she still had her first drink but she was very curious to see where this conversation would go. She wanted to stay very present for it. She watches Chloe take another long drink from her new drink.  
"Now, meine liebling, tell me what happened." Luisa says, grabbing her hand.

…

Beca and Stacie finally get off the London Eye and start rushing through the crowd heading towards the market place they had spotted Chloe in. There were so many people Beca had a hard time seeing over them. Stacie, who towers over everyone, scans the crowd, searching for the fiery red hair of her roommate.  
"I can't see her anywhere." Stacie says, uneasily.  
"It's been 25 minutes since we saw her, she could be anywhere by now." Beca says, concerned, before she huffs anxiously, "Jesus, Chloe's good at disappearing on me these days."  
Stacie gives her a sympathetic smile, "Come on Bec, that's why she's here. To talk to you. We'll find her, she can't have gone too far."  
"I guess so." Beca says, looking around.

The two women suddenly hear a familiar voice off in the distance. Beca whirls around and sees two faces she hadn't seen in a very long time.  
"Short Stack!" Amy shouts, walking towards her with open arms, while an anxious looking Aubrey trails behind.  
"Guys!" Beca says, excitedly, briefly forgetting their current situation.  
Amy reaches Beca and wraps her arms around her and pulling her into a bone crushing hug that lifts her off the ground. Beca, who had never been very affectionate, couldn't help but smile. She had missed her friends so much and now suddenly they were all in the same city together. Amy puts her back down, holding her at arms length, giving her a giant smile.  
"Did you shrink?" Amy asks, looking down at her little friend.  
"No!" Beca frowns, crossing her arms.  
"Well, you look smaller!" Amy huffs, knowing there was something different about her.  
"Amy! Leave her alone!" Aubrey says, pushing her out of the way, not wanting to bring up the fact that Beca had lost a lot of weight.

Aubrey moves in front of Beca, noticing her face was slightly thin and still looked a little tired. But she looked a hell of a lot better than Stacie had told her a few days ago. This made Aubrey happy, it seems Beca was starting to feel better.  
"How are you Beca?" Aubrey smiles, leaning in and giving her a quick hug.  
"Surprised to see you guys." Beca grins, happy to see them, "Any news on Chloe yet?"  
"Yeah, has she contacted you guys?" Stacie asks, before giving Aubrey a quick hug herself, both of them giving each other small smiles.  
"Yes, she called me a few minutes ago. Apparently she's lost her phone and now she's at a hotel somewhere near Hyde Park." Aubrey rolls her eyes, annoyed at her best friend.  
"Hyde Park? That's not even really in walking distance of here." Beca frowns, confused, "Why on earth is she there?"  
"God knows!" Aubrey crosses her arms, "I'm going to kill her! Anything could have happened to her."  
"Hey, hey, hey.." Stacie soothes, "We at least know she's safe now." Stacie says, rubbing Aubrey's arms in comforting way.  
"I guess so." Aubrey sighs, melting slightly at her touch.

A tiny smile curls at Beca's lips as she watches her two friends interact with each other. She knew they were taking things slow, but it was obvious how much they cared for each other. A simple touch here and cute little smile there. They were falling in love before Beca's eyes, it was truly beautiful. And then there was Amy.  
"Ugh! Can you two be nauseatingly cute another time?" She scoffs, "Aren't you forgetting we have our ginger princess to find?"  
Stacie and Aubrey move away from each other, blushing as they do so. Beca shakes her head, Amy was good at ruining a nice moment.  
"Nice job, Ames." Beca mutters.  
"What?" Amy whines, defensively.  
"No, Amy's right. We do need to find Chloe." Aubrey says, a little flustered  
"Ok, well Hyde Park isn't that far from where I live. We can get her and then head back to my apartment." Beca says, signalling to walk towards the road where they could grab a cab.

The four of them pile into a shiny black cab, Aubrey giving the driver the location they needed to go. They set off into heavy traffic, hoping Chloe hasn't found herself in any trouble. Beca begins to feel her familiar nerves kick in, she was going to see Chloe and not just through her camera. What would they say to each other? Would things still be the same? Or has too much time past? So many questions rattled around in Beca's brain, she thinks her head may bust. She prays for the day when her brain would finally give her some peace. She wonders what it's like for people who don't get anxious.  
' _God that must be nice, not to think of 30 things at once._ ' Beca muses, as she stares out the window of the cab.  
"You right there shorty? You look like you've got some serious thoughts happening." Amy says, quietly.  
"I'm just hoping I can fix everything with Chloe and I hope it's not too late." Beca says, afraid that she might not be able too.  
"But you didn't do anything wrong. You've been stuck on a different continent, you can't be held responsible for things falling apart." Amy says, trying to be supportive.  
"Maybe… I have some fault here, I can't say that I didn't do anything wro…wait… but you did!" Beca says, loudly, whacking Amy on the arm, "Why on earth did you have me followed?"

Amy rolls her eyes, nobody ever appreciates her acts of love and kindness. There was always shouts of how she goes too far.  
"This is why I never tell people I'm looking out for them, they get all weirded out and start sprouting shit about it being an invasion of their privacy or some shit!" Amy scowls, feeling unappreciated, "And besides, my guys stopped you and your friend from getting robbed in Barcelona."  
"Nobody tried to rob us in Spain!" Beca snaps, annoyed.  
"You're welcome!" Amy says, exasperated, throwing her hands in the air.  
Beca rolls her eyes and groans, Stacie and Aubrey snigger a little.  
"You should be thanking me Half Pint, my guys took care of a lot of things to keep you safe." Amy remarks, with huff.  
Something about Amy's words made Beca feel a little unsettled. Who were these guys and what exactly did they take care of?  
Beca squints her eyes suspiciously, "Who are you?"  
Amy gives Beca a peculiar look, giving Beca no comfort at all. Even Aubrey seemed interested in the conversation. She's known Amy for almost ten years, but how much did she actually know about her?  
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." She mutters, leaving an uneasy feeling in the cab.

The mystery of who Amy truly was hung in the air as everyone was staring at her. Stacie felt like maybe they needed a subject change. She knew that they flew over in Amy's new plane, that must have been fun for everyone.  
"Oh hey, how was the flight?" Stacie says, throwing out the random question.  
"Scarring!" Aubrey says, with a grimace.  
But at the same time Amy says, "Satisfying!"  
Beca and Stacie look between the two, Aubrey had turned even paler, while Amy had a dreamy glow. Beca couldn't help but wonder what happened.  
"What happened?" Stacie asks, beating Beca to it.  
"No!" Aubrey snaps, sitting very stiffly.  
Amy rolls her eyes, "You're such a prude."

…

Luisa watches her new friend with a little smirk. She had to admit she was very pretty. Luisa could see why Beca was attracted to her. Her vibrant red hair, her big blue eyes and her stunningly huge smile. But other than beauty, what else did Beca see in this woman? What made her so special?  
"So, how did you meet maus?" Luisa asks, sipping her drink, eyeing her with a predatory look.  
"Well, to tell you the truth, she knew me before I ever laid eyes on her." Chloe says, feeling the ease of her wine flowing through her.  
"What do you mean?" Luisa asks, very interested.  
"We both were on a boat at Niagara Falls and I had just gotten on of an oppressive relationship, long story, and I climbed up on the railing at the bow of the boat. You know, Titanic Style! Because I just needed to feel the rush of the water to feel alive again." Chloe explains, animatedly, "But it turns out Beca was right near me and took my picture."  
"Wow! That is quite a coincidence!" Luisa says, surprised.

Chloe now very relaxed in the company of this German woman, only because she was now on her forth glass of wine in the space of about ten minutes and her jet lag was really starting to kick in. She seemed it necessary to inform Luisa of the love that she and Beca shared. She wanted to prove that she was going to be Beca's future.  
"No, that's not the coincidence." Chloe shakes her head, Luisa tilts her own in interest, "The coincidence was that I answered a roommate ad two years later for Beca and Stacie and that's how we met."  
"Ah well, the universe does work in mysterious ways." Luisa says, smiling.  
"Beca had this picture on her wall. She was so weird around me for a few weeks, all fidgety and nervous because she didn't want me to find out." Chloe continues, taking another mouthful of her drink.  
"I am familiar with that version of Beca." Luisa chuckles lightly.  
Chloe laughs too, somehow the alcohol was making her enjoy this woman's company.  
' _She makes jokes! She's not so bad!_ ' Chloe's alcohol hazed mind thinks.

"She ended up showing me the picture and telling me that my actions that day inspired her to continue photography." Chloe says, proudly, "Its one hell of a picture."  
"I can imagine, she is very good." Luisa says, quietly, feeling a very small twinge of jealousy.  
She never realised Beca had almost given up photography. It was the one thing Beca loved more than anything and Luisa never thought anything could make her want to give it up. What gift it was to be the inspiration for someone. Luisa sips her drink again, wondering what more could she get out of this woman.  
"It took a lot of obvious flirting but after a few months, I got her." Chloe beams triumphantly, "Boy, she's an amazing person!"  
"She tells these amazing stories of the people she meets, she takes these incredible pictures that make you want to jump on the next plane out of your city! But not only that, she's so kind and loving and considerate, even when she pretends that she's not. You know, every Friday, she'd bring me something from that weeks adventure, flowers, candy, one time a weird shaped drinking glass that she stole from a restaurant. And that's why everyone loves her, that's why I love her." Chloe sighs, daydreaming about Beca, "But we got comfortable and happy. And you know, that's the best time for life to come in and fuck everything up. That's when she got a two year contract for London."

Luisa could see the sadness in Chloe's face, it makes Luisa think about what kind of relationship these two actually had. They knew each other, they spent time with each other, they loved each other. Luisa frowns, yes she had know Beca longer, but they still didn't know that much about each other. They don't have the connection that her and Chloe seem to have.  
"It ruined everything, this stupid London contract." Chloe spits, before draining her drink, "We paused things. I mean, who does that? It's just code for being broken up! And breaking my heart!"  
"I see, you didn't want to break up?" Luisa asks, startled at how quickly her emotions were changing.  
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I didn't!" Chloe looks at her annoyed, "She was my first real relationship since my abusive boyfriend. I pictured myself getting married to her. I even brought her a ring. Didn't get the chance to give it to her though."

This admission surprises Luisa above all of the other things Chloe had told her. Luisa was starting to regret trying to get her drunk to mess with her a little. Luisa really liked Beca, she enjoyed talking with her and teasing her. But looking at this sad woman in front of her, Luisa knew that it was Chloe that really loved her.  
"I opened my heart up for the first time in so long and I couldn't get it to last. I was so sad when she left, you know." Chloe continues, sadness dropping into her words, "I thought if I kept my distance, then she wouldn't regret leaving to follow her dream."  
"Why did you let her go?" Luisa asks, frowning.  
"A few reasons, but mainly because I didn't want her to resent me for being the reason her dream wasn't fulfilled." Chloe sighs, sadly, "So, I just stayed quiet, kept in the background of my own story. But I thought a call ever so often would be enough to not be in her face so she wouldn't regret leaving but enough for her to want to come home at the end of it."  
"I thought, hang out for two years and everything would be ok. But then, you came along!" Chloe glares at Luisa, her emotions were changing as rapidly as she was telling the story.

Luisa sculls the rest of her drink and signals Arthur for another. She may need another with the way Chloe was now looking at her. Chloe obviously knew that Beca and her had hooked up. Luisa hadn't anticipated on that, Beca said she hadn't only told anyone back home except Stacie and Luisa knew she was usually a vault.  
"I mean look at you! With your perfect hair and your perfect body! And those God damn eyes! Urgh! You're everybody's dream girl!" Chloe says, in disgust, watching Arthur approaching.  
"I do not know about that." Luisa frowns, thinking there must be people out there that found her unattractive.  
"Puh-lease! I don't even like you that much and I want to fuck you!" Chloe says, in huff, taking Luisa's new drink out of Arthur's hand and downing it in one.  
"Oh my!" Luisa eyes widen in surprise, jumping and grabbing Chloe's arm, "Liebling, that is a sipping whiskey!"  
Chloe gasps as the alcohol burns her throat, "So it is!"

Arthur shakes his head and immediately pours her a glass of water and gets Luisa another drink. Chloe drinks the water, feeling only slightly better. She looks at Luisa, this gorgeous model, who had a smile that could make anyone fall for her.  
"What am I compared to you?" Chloe says, darkly.  
The question shocks Luisa, she wouldn't be surprised if Chloe got up and slapped her across the face right there and then. She thinks that Luisa has stolen the love of her life and at the start of this little conversation Luisa may have had those intentions. But looking at the adorable little red head and hearing about how much she loved Beca and remembering all the times Beca never shut up about Chloe, Luisa could see Beca and her probably weren't meant to be. Luisa smiles in her defeat, reaching out and taking Chloe hands tightly in her own.  
"Liebling, listen to me. You and I aren't to be compared to each other. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are wonderful, no?" Luisa smiles, looking into Chloe's eyes.

Chloe's brain was getting even hazier from all the alcohol. She frowns at Luisa, trying to comprehend what she just said to her.  
' _I'm as good as her, just different? Is that what's she's trying to say?_ ' Chloe thinks, trying to understand the blonde's words.  
It was becoming difficult to concentrate, Chloe wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol or her beautiful blue eyes looking directly into hers.  
"But.. you guys hooked up?" Chloe says, the words physically hurt her to say, "And you guys seem to talk to each other all the time."  
"Chloe, liebling, when Beca and I hooked up, it was one time. We were a little drunk and a little surprised to see each other. I think there were just a lot of unresolved feelings between us. But it hasn't happened since." Luisa explains, "Would you like to know why?"  
"Why?" Chloe sighs, sadly.  
"Because all Beca can talk about is you. On the odd occasion I get a response from maus or she actually answers her phone, she always tells me how much she misses you, or tells me a story about you." Luisa smirks, "How do you think I knew who you were when I came in here?"

Chloe smiles a little. That was a comforting thought, that when Beca had the most gorgeous woman Chloe had ever seen on the phone or sending her a message, she talked about her, she talked about Chloe. Maybe there was still hope after all.  
"She's told me so many stories, I now know why she calls you her reckless woman. If anything, Beca and I are friends and nothing more. Besides, I wouldn't be able to compete with you, liebling." Luisa smiles at Chloe, reaching out and tucking a piece of her red hair behind her ear.  
Chloe smiles back, feeling reassured that Luisa was no longer a threat. Chloe didn't know if it was the alcohol talking, but maybe they might even be friends one day.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, thank you for all the great reviews on the last chapter. You know I love hearing what you think will happen next, so keep them coming. But for now, on to the next chapter. Enjoy! :)**

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Some thirty minutes later, four very annoyed women clamber out of the shiny black cab that dropped them right in front of the hotel Chloe was in.  
"That traffic was insane! Is it always like that?" Stacie asks, helping Aubrey out of the cab.  
"Yeah most of the time, I usually just take the tube to get around." Beca says, after she pays the man.  
"Tube?" Amy frowns, questioningly.  
"The train, Ames." Beca answers, straightening up her jacket.  
"Oh.." Amy sniggers, "For a moment I thought I'd missed out on some Futurama type shit!"

The four of them enter the beautiful hotel, all of them admiring the huge fountain in the middle of the foyer. It was at least four metres tall and had Koi fish swimming in it.  
"When I build my house, I'm having one of those." Amy says, as if it was the greatest idea in the world.  
"Wouldn't that be a bit tacky?" Stacie asks, tilting her head.  
"You're a bit tacky!" Amy grumbles, not getting the reaction she wanted.  
"I don't see her anywhere." Beca says, looking around, ignoring Amy's grumpy rambling, "Are you sure you have the right hotel, Aubrey?"  
"Yes, of course I'm sure." Aubrey huffs, looking around also, "I'll go ask. I swear if she's not here, I'm going to kill her." She walks up to the main desk muttering under breath.  
Beca watches Aubrey walk away as she nervously begins to fix her hair. It had been so long since her and Chloe had seen each other. Were they going to be happy to see each other? Will it be awkward? Will there be tears?

Stacie could see Beca was spiraling. She walks up behind her, puts her hands on her shoulders and gives them a reassuring squeeze. Beca looks up and sees Stacie giving her a loving smile. They didn't need to say anything, Beca knew. She knew no matter what happened, Stacie would be there. Beca takes a deep breath, calming her nerves.  
"She's in the bar." Aubrey announces, pointing in the direction of the bar.  
"Oh good! Let's all have a drink while we're in there!" Amy cheers, happily.  
"Amy, I haven't slept or showered in 20 hours. So we're getting Chloe and leaving!" Aubrey says, giving Amy a very strained look.  
"Party Pooper!" Amy groans, as the set off for the bar.  
"Doesn't Amy's plane have a bedroom and a bathroom on it?" Stacie asks Aubrey, as they walk.  
Aubrey goes pale once more, "I may need months of therapy after what I saw in there. I couldn't go for a pee for three hours."  
Stacie grins amused, she could only imagine what happened on the plane to get Aubrey this uncomfortable.

They four women enter the bar, spotting Chloe immediately at the bar talking to someone next to her. Beca walks forward, suddenly losing all of her nerves. She was so pleased to see Chloe, she couldn't wait to talk to her.  
"Chloe!" Beca says, both relieved she was ok and happy to see her.  
Chloe and her new friend both look over and see the four woman approaching, but only Beca and Stacie stop in their tracks. A huge smile breaks out over Chloe's face as Beca and Stacie's mouths drop to the floor.  
"Beca!" Chloe shouts excitedly, sounding more than a little drunk.  
"Chloe?..and Luisa?" Beca asks, very confused.  
"Luisa?!" Amy and Aubrey exclaim, turning to the also confused Stacie who simply nods her head.  
"Maus! And Stacie! Well, we have a full on reunion today, no?" Luisa says, smirking a little.

Beca approaches the two women at the bar, very concerned that she was hallucinating. Beca's eyes rapidly move between the two women, trying to figure out what on earth was going on. But her brain simply couldn't come up with answer that made any sense to her.  
"Well, this is weird for me." Beca says, extremely perplexed.  
Luisa smiles broadly, fully understanding how odd of a situation they have just walked into. She signals Arthur to bring her the bill. Meanwhile Chloe, being fuelled on by the large amounts of alcohol she had consumed, jumps off her bar stool and launches herself into Beca's arms.  
"Beca!" She shouts, happily.  
"Ooffft!" Beca lets out as Chloe proceeds to knock the wind out of her.  
"Becs it's so good to see you. I'm so, so, so sorry about everything, I never meant to hurt you, I was just very, very jealous of this pretty lady over here, and there was no reason to be! Because she is sooooo nice!" Chloe rambles, not even taking a breath and holding on to her very tightly with no signs of letting go.

Everyone stares at Chloe, very startled by her bizarre behaviour. Beca looks over her shoulder at Luisa, who was signing for the bill.  
"Did you get her drunk?" Beca asks, suspiciously.  
Luisa turns, giving Beca her most dazzling smile, the one that used to make Beca weak at the knees.  
"Not intentionally." She says, sweetly.  
Beca glares at her, still very suspicious. Even though she had moved past her old feelings for Luisa, she had a feeling Luisa still may hold a candle for her.  
"Du lügst." Beca says in German, surprising everyone but Luisa.  
"Vielleicht eni bisschen." Luisa smirks, sheepishly.  
Luisa gets up, grabbing her purse. She gives Beca a very hard look, before smiling sincerely.  
"Sie ist wunderbar, heirate dies eins." Luisa says, confidently, making Beca's mouth drop a little in surprise.  
"Du wirst nicht eifersüchtig werden?" Beca smirks, poking fun one last time.

Luisa draws herself to her fullest height, giving Beca an evil smile, wondering when her maus became so cheeky.  
"Ich werde leben." She grins, glaring slightly at Beca.  
Beca laughs, barely noticing all of her friends staring at her like she has three heads, none of them knew when Beca learnt German. Luisa knew she had lost Beca to Chloe, but she was very ok with it. She gives Beca and Chloe one last lustful look.  
"Aber wenn du jemals eine dritte brauchst. Call me!" Lusia winks at Beca's shocked face.  
She begins to walk away again before stopping to give Stacie a massive hug, as she hadn't seen her in many years. She kisses her on either cheek, giving her a huge smile. Beca's arm suddenly flings out to stop a very annoyed looking Aubrey.  
"Easy tiger!" Beca says, calmingly, regaining her composure, "No need to sue her into oblivion. She means no harm."  
"You look wonderful, old friend." Luisa says, sincerely, not noticing the daggers Aubrey was throwing at her.  
"You do too, it's really nice to see you again, Luisa." Stacie says, now the shock had worn off.

Luisa pulls back from Stacie before giving them a giant smile, "Auf Wiedersehen."  
She begins to walk away, leaving a few very confused women in her wake.  
"Goodbye Luisa!" Chloe shouts, letting go of Beca for a moment, "Call me and we'll go shopping."  
Luisa smiles and simply raises her hand for a wave without turning around, she just struts out the door, swaying her shapely hips as she went.  
"She is just so nice!" Chloe remarks, with a blissful look on her face.  
Everyone looks at her, wondering what kind of conversation had they been having before they entered the bar. They then turn to the bartender, who was sniggering behind the bar.  
"I know nothing!" He says, smirking, handing Beca a paid receipt.  
Beca takes the receipt, noticing Luisa's hand writing at the bottom.  
" _Wenn du eine Dritte willst, weißt du, wie du mich erreichen kannst_ " It read, making Beca realise that Luisa was serious.

…

 **15 hours later**

Chloe beings to stir, all she feels is a lovely soft mattress underneath her and wonderfully warm blankets snuggled around her. As she begins to return to state of consciousness, she feels her head start to throb. Why did her head hurt so badly? Then Chloe's stomach begins to churn. Why did she feel so sick? Chloe tries to open up her eyes. Even in the incredible dark room, it still stung when she opened them.  
"Hssss" Chloe hisses, struggling to keep her eyes opened.  
Without actually moving, she squints at the room she was in, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. She didn't recognise this room, where the hell was she? Chloe had no idea where she is or even where she was before she got here. She had no clue what time it was or even what day it could be. At this point, Chloe could be in a different country for all she knew.  
' _Wait! I am in a different country! I came to England to see Beca.'_ Chloe thinks, as her mind begins to catch up.

But that still didn't explain where she was and how she got here. The room she was in wasn't a hotel room and it wasn't the bedroom on Amy's plane. It looked like somebody's bedroom, did she get drunk and go home with someone? Chloe uses all her mental strength to try and remember who she was with before she blacked out.  
' _I got lost…a river… a market place…a taxi..'_ Chloe's memories return in random increments as it tries to catch her up, ' _there was a hotel..and a fountain..Some guy named Arthur…and…_ '  
Chloe sits up gasping loudly, "Luisa! Ow!"  
Chloe cradles her head in her hands, she shouldn't have moved so fast. But now she felt even more sick, did she actually go home with her number one enemy? Chloe begins to panic, this could be very, very bad.  
"You know, that's not the name I expected you to yell in my room." Comes an amused voice.  
That voice sounded familiar and it certainly didn't sound German. Chloe gingerly lifts her head and peeks through her fingers. Nothing but relief floods her body when she sees who is standing at the door.  
"Beca!" Chloe sighs, relieved.

Beca watches her old friend with playful smirk on her face. By the time she reached Chloe yesterday afternoon, she was completely smashed and was trying to befriend everyone, including Beca's old high school crush, now actual friend, Luisa. All in all, Beca knew Luisa had to be to blame, Chloe knew she was a light weight and never drunk that much. With copious amounts of alcohol coupled with the onset of jet lag, Chloe was in a very interesting state by the time she was found. They managed to get her to Beca's apartment, which was an interesting journey in itself. It took three women to pry Chloe's arms from around Beca, after which she completely passed out.  
"Luisa, huh?" Beca smirks, as she approaches the bed with a cup of coffee.  
"She's that last thing I remember." Chloe groans, her voice slightly hoarse, "What the hell happened?"  
Beca hands her the cup of coffee, Chloe gratefully accepting.  
"I'm still not 100% sure, but I think Luisa tried to get you a little drunk." Beca says, gently sitting on the bed.  
"She succeeded!" Chloe groans, taking a mouthful of her coffee.

Beca chuckles knowing Luisa can be very persuasive, especially with gentle people.  
"Generally she means well, but she does like to mess with innocent souls." Beca admits, amused, "I had to start learning German because on the odd occasion Emily and I saw her, she would mutter random things in German to make Emily blush or she would send messages that I'd have to get Emily to translate. Emily forced me to learn after that"  
Chloe takes another mouthful of her coffee. She tries to think back to the conversation the two had, not a great deal comes back to her, except the overwhelming feeling of lust towards her.  
"I finally understand what you guys mean about her sexual energy." Chloe mutters, into her coffee.  
Beca raises her eyebrows in surprise, "Wow, she got you too, huh?"  
As surprised as Beca is, it made a little sense to her given how Luisa was acting yesterday. But she never thought Chloe would fall for Luisa's charm.

"I don't know how, but I was jealous of her and wanted to be with her at the same time. It was all very confusing. But that could have been the alcohol talking." Chloe groans, embarrassed.  
Beca sniggers a little, she knew that feeling all too well and she knew it wasn't the alcohol talking. Just talking to Luisa can have that effect on you.  
Beca smirks, "Well, what's the last thing you remember about talking to her?"  
Chloe closes her eyes and tries remember, "I was mad about something and I took her drink and drank the whole thing."  
Beca's eyes widen in shock, "Do you have a death wish, Chloe? She drinks really strong whiskey. I'm amazed you didn't pass out."  
"Didn't I? I don't remember anything after that." Chloe grimaces, taking another mouthful of her coffee.  
Beca laughs a little, "Well, you took a liking to her. You guys exchanged numbers and you want to go shopping with her."  
Beca holds up a business card with Luisa's details on it. Chloe couldn't look more horrified, what on earth did she do while she was drunk?  
"Why would I do that?" Chloe asks, with a terrified expression.  
"You kept telling me she was sooooo nice." Beca says, laughing at Chloe's faces, as she can't quite believe she would say that.  
"I'm never drinking again." Chloe groans, very aware of the pain in her head.

"Well, you must have had your own effect on her." Beca mentions, with a sly look.  
Chloe looks at Beca as though she doesn't have the mental capacity to comprehend what she was talking about. But by the look on Beca's face, she was about to tell her something interesting.  
"What do you mean?" Chloe asks, looking into her mug sadly because almost all the coffee was gone.  
"Well, she thinks you're wonderful." Beca starts, smiling, "Maybe she'll even ask you out."  
"Oh Jesus!" Chloe groans, covering her face, "What did I do?"  
"That's a mystery to all of us. Here, I'll get you some more coffee, heart breaker!" Beca laughs, as she takes Chloe's cup to go get her more coffee, Chloe looks up and watches her walking towards the door.

The words heart breaker reminds Chloe why she came to London in the first place. She made a mistake that hurt Beca really badly and she needed to fix it.  
"I'm sorry." She says, suddenly.  
Beca stops short of the door and turns around. She looks at Chloe, Beca could see she looks more distressed than before.  
"What for?" Beca frowns, walking back towards the bed.  
"What for? Becs, I've been a total arsehole to you! How you can even look at me is still surprising me!" Chloe cries, hanging her head in shame.  
Beca sighs, she puts the empty cup down on the bedside table and sits back down on the bed. She looks at Chloe, she could see just how upset she was and how sorry she felt. It had been hard for Beca to believe that Chloe had actually missed her given her sudden silence towards her. But after Amy's incredible weird, yet thoughtful gesture she could start to understand what happened.

"When you said it didn't matter which option you picked, you would regret something, I just didn't want you to regret this." Chloe says, sadly, "This was your dream way before you ever met me and I didn't want to be what held you back."  
"Chlo…" Beca's face falls a little, "I'm sorry, I should have stayed. Coming here has just made a mess of everything."  
"No." Chloe shakes her head, but regretfully, "You needed to do this, I was just sad that you left and then when Amy let what happened with Luisa slip, I just turned into a jealous idiot."  
"I wanted to tell you, but I felt so guilty about it." Beca admits, "But I realised after it happened, that it was just left over feelings from when I was a teenager and nothing more."  
Chloe listens with rapt attention as Beca explains her side.  
"I knew then, that there was no connection, not like the one I have with you." Beca says, earnestly, "Luisa is awesome and she makes for a great and entertaining friend, but she's not you. And she never will be."

A warm feeling spreads through Chloe's body, it's all she ever wanted to hear. That she was the one, the one Beca wanted. Chloe hadn't felt this happy in almost two years, she had her Beca back in her life and she wouldn't let her stubborn self get in the way again. They had a lot more to talk about but this was a good start.  
"I think we're both a little to blame for things falling apart." Beca says, with a small smile, "But I think we can both agree that Amy is actually to blame."  
Chloe gives a watery chuckle, "I still have no clue who these people are that were following you."  
"Is she in the Mafia or something?" Beca wonders out loud.  
"Maybe she just has boyfriends everywhere and she's like an international mistress and they all do her bidding." Chloe suggests, making Beca's face contort into mass confusion on where she pulled that idea from, "Oh…we had an incident on the plane…"  
"Ahh, it might be too early in the morning for you to tell me that story." Beca waves her hand, not wanting to hear the story that freaked Aubrey out.

The two women giggle at each, finally starting feel happy and whole again. Beca reaches out and takes Chloe's hand and grasps it tightly, just like she used to do.  
"So, where do we go from here?" Chloe asks, trying to suss out how they were going to get themselves back on track.  
"Well, I'm coming home in seven months." Beca says, with a smile, "And I'm never taking a contract like this ever again."  
That makes Chloe smile, she never wanted to be without Beca again and even though the next seven months would be hard, she was happy to know Beca would be coming home for good.  
"And if you'd have me, maybe we can pick up where we left off?" Beca asks, coyly.  
"Right now or in seven months, I just need to clarify?" Chloe asks, seriously.  
Beca snorts and leans forward, "I was hoping for right now."

Elation erupts through Chloe as the words leave Beca's mouth, she closes the gap between them and kisses her for the first time in 15 months. All of her old feelings for Beca come back in an instant, she felt giddy and lightheaded. This was the happiest she'd ever been. Nothing could ruin this moment for her. But suddenly, the giddy feeling turns to a hot sear in her stomach. She pulls back very quickly.  
"Where's your bathroom?" She's asks a very confused Beca.  
"Ah.. First door on the left." She says, pointing out the door.  
Chloe then swiftly untangles herself from the blankets and bolts out the door to the bathroom. Beca watches her as she goes, not sure what just happened. But then, she hears it, the sound of retching coming from the bathroom.  
"Are you ok, Chlo?" Beca stands up, walking towards the hall.  
She was answered with a low, mournful sound that echoed slightly in the toilet bowl. Beca reaches the bathroom and sees Chloe face down in the toilet.  
"This has nothing to do with my kissing, right?" Beca asks, watching her with concern, "Like it's because of the alcohol, yeah?"  
Chloe answers by throwing up again.  
"I'm going to assume it was the alcohol." Beca mutters, as she walks forward to hold Chloe's hair back.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Notes: Good morning guys, thank you for all the wonderful reviews and thank you again Skeptizism for helping me fix my translations. Google translate can only do so much. Anyway, lets move on to the next chapter. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Amy comes over to the table at the pub the five friends were having dinner at later that evening. She was holding a tray of drinks ready to hand them out.  
"Ok, one wine for Stacie, one fruity cocktail for Aubrey, not for you shorty you can't hold your girly drinks, a beer for you aaaannnnd one water for our hungover ginger princess!"  
Chloe groans as her friends all laugh and cheer at how sick she still felt. She grateful sips the water, still feeling a little uneasy in her stomach.  
"Don't worry Chloe, the British have great food to help cure hangovers." Beca assures her, "It's even better than our American hangover food."  
Amy sets down the empty tray, "Ok, hold up Small fry! The British may have invented hangover food, but Australians have redefined it."  
"Australians? Please! The only good thing you've done is invented wifi!" Beca scoffs, earning a glare from Amy.  
"Watch yourself, Beca!" Amy says, seriously, "You may just start a fight you might not be able to finish."  
Chloe leans close to Beca and whispers, "Australian mafia!"  
Beca weighs up her options, "Ah, no, you're absolutely right, Ames! Australian food is better."  
Amy looks at Beca slightly confused at quickly she changed her mind, but decided to go with it, "Damn straight I'm right!" Amy grins, taking a big gulp of her beer, "I'm always right."

Beca breaths a small sigh of relief, given how far Amy goes sometimes, it was best to not get on her bad side. The five women begin to fully catch up on their lives, Beca finds out about all the things that had been happening while she had been gone. Like how kickarse Aubrey was at being a lawyer, Aubrey couldn't help but beam as she told Beca about her job.  
"Sounds like you made a really great decision coming to New York." Beca smiles happily.  
Aubrey nods, knowing Beca actually had a lot to do with her decision to come to New York, she would be forever gratefully to her.  
"You know, it's still weird to me that you two are friends." Chloe says, looking at Aubrey.  
"I gotta tell you, it wasn't easy." Beca says, dramatically, "Aubrey is a tough nut to crack."  
"Tell me about it!" Stacie mutters, earning a shove from Aubrey.  
"Well, Beca proved to me that she wasn't just the weird stalker alt girl that I thought she was and she wasn't actually too bad of a person." Aubrey says, as lovingly as she could muster.  
"Aw Bree! You do care!" Beca says, rather touched and amused at the same time.

Aubrey rolls her eyes as everyone has a good giggle.  
Beca hadn't enjoyed a night like this in a really long time. As much as she loved Emily, it wasn't the same, she had come to really love her group of friends and now she couldn't wait to go home.  
"So where are your London friends tonight Beca?" Amy asks, interestedly.  
"Emily and Benji are on a date." Beca says, smiling, "And quite frankly, it's about time. Benji's been crushing in Emily since he laid eyes on her."  
"I still can't believe Benji lives over here too. Small world." Stacie remarks, sipping her wine, "But hey, at least you've gone down from six enemies to four now."  
Beca and Stacie laugh a little, though nobody else knew what they were talking about.  
"Actually, I think I'm still averaging five mortal enemies, and surprisingly it's not Aubrey anymore." Beca says, smirking at Aubrey's confused face.  
"Who else did you piss off Beca?" Stacie asks, now interested.  
"Ugh, my boss Luke!" Beca pulls a face, "He hates me more than my other four enemies put together."  
"What did you do?" Amy asks, sipping her beer.  
"Existed!" Beca answers, making everyone snigger.

"Come on Beca, he can't be that bad." Stacie says, reasonably.  
"I assure you, he is. Luke can't help but think that he's more important than everyone because his uncle is the CEO. I honestly don't even think Warren likes him that much." Beca remarks, thoughtfully.  
"Wow, how bad do you have to be for your own uncle to not like you?" Chloe says, tiredly sipping her water.  
"Luke's good at his job, but he's just a natural born arsehole." Beca explains, "He spent my first five months trying to get me fired, and when he couldn't get that to happen, he spent the last year trying to get me to quit. Ugh, he's just a lot to handle sometimes."  
Beca sips her beer as she hears the door of the pub open, she looks over and groans at who she see.  
"Speak of the fucking devil." She rolls her eyes, "God, he's like Beetlejuice, say his name three times and he fucking appears!"

Everyone turns to get a glimpse of the handsome blonde man walking through the door with an attractive looking woman on his arm. Beca couldn't help but wonder where he found this poor soul. Maybe she should go find out if she's here against her will.  
"That's him?" Stacie asks, whispering, Beca nods dully.  
"Wow, he's better looking than I expected. The way you've always described him made him sound like he had horns growing out of his head." Aubrey says, looking at him making his way into the pub.  
"You can't see them because of his thick puffy hair." Beca snickers, sipping her beer.  
"I'd do him." Amy says, lustfully, eyeing him carefully.  
"Of course you would." Chloe giggles, shaking her head.

The whole table breaks into laughter, Beca would actually love to see Amy trying to pick him up. She would be a force to be reckoned with and Beca could only imagine how uncomfortable Luke would be being hit on by a forceful Australian.  
"Oh, I think our laughter has caught the attention of the demon." Chloe says, spying Luke walking towards them.  
"Demon? I like that." Beca smirks, lovingly nudging Chloe, "I wonder if I could call him that and get away with it?"  
"Well, you can only try." Stacie grins, wilfully.  
All of them giggle once more as he approaches their table. He seems vastly interested in the table of women Beca was sitting with.  
"Rebecca." He greets her smugly.  
"Lucas." Beca says, not even looking at him.  
This is how they had come to greet each other lately. The fact being, that neither of them had any respect for the other, so they had resorted to calling each other by their full name. Even though it infuriated Luke, Beca didn't care that much.

"So, I heard you've been far to incapacitated to attend your job. You don't look unwell to me, I'm sure Uncle Warren will love to hear about this." Luke remakes, pompously.  
Beca shrugs her shoulder, seemingly unfazed by Luke's threat, "Go ahead, Warren already understands that constant travel can take a toll on your body. I should probably warn you about that, since you think you can do my job better than I can." Beca smirks, turning to look at him, "I've put all the ground work in, now you just have to make sure you don't fuck it up. You know, like you do with your job."  
The table sniggers as Luke tries to stay calm. It seemed the few days she has had off hadn't done anything to dull her sharp tongue. He was not pleased about this development. He looks around at the group of women Beca had with her. Some of them were quite pretty.  
"I didn't realise you had friends, or did you just pay a bunch of call girls to fill the lesbian loneliness you've clearly been having lately?" He says with a smug look.  
"Wow Luke, how long have you been working on that line? It was pretty good, it _almost_ stung a little bit." Beca replies, barely batting an eyelid.

Beca may not have been offended, but the rest of the table certainly was. The table of women now glower at Luke as he looks down at Beca. If he wasn't careful, he may find himself in a whole world of hurt before the night was through.  
"Well, if they aren't call girls, they would have to be your friends." Luke smirks at the glares he was currently receiving, "Surprising, seeing as you're not exactly a likeable person."  
"I'm amazed you can recognised something you don't have, Luke." Beca says, sipping her drink, "It must be hard having everything in life, yet no one likes you."  
His smirk becomes as thin as a line, he truly hated Beca Mitchell, but he'd never seemed to get too much over her. The only win he got over her was rejecting every time request leave she ever put in. He had to try a different tactic.  
"So, are all of you dykes too or are you all fair game?" Luke asks, deciding to attack Beca's friends instead.

All Beca could do was smirk, this wasn't going to end well. Beca calmly drinks her beer and waits for the inevitable to happen. This idiot was going after a New Yorker, an Australian, a lawyer and Chloe, who was extremely sweet, but has been known to cut a guy down at the knees when necessary.  
"Wow, does that pick up line actually work or are you just wanting to die tonight?" Stacie asks, tilting her head in interest.  
Luke leans on the table with a smug look, "Well, you tell me sweetheart?"  
"I'm happy to say, hard pass!" Stacie assures him.  
Luke looks to Aubrey beside her, "Ew! Don't look at me, I'm with her." Aubrey says, pointing at Stacie.  
"So you are all a bunch of dykes! Such a shame, most of you are rather nice looking." He says, looking around at the table, "I never did understand lesbians. You know, all you need is some good dick to fix that, right?"  
"Oh, we just buy those." Stacie fires, back without missing a beat, "I've called mine Barb, because it's red and it lives in the upside down, if you know what I mean."

The whole table bursts into laughter, as Luke's face contorts into fury. They were just like Beca, all disrespectful and vulgar. This is why he usually doesn't hit on Americans.  
"Americans!" He scoffs, disgusted, "You're all a bunch of vulgar twits."  
Amy, who had been unusually silent this whole time, lets a huge, brilliant smile take over her face. She stands up and takes Luke's shoulder.  
"Well, lucky for you big boy, I'm not American!" She says, with a suggestive wink.  
Luke shudders, clearly not attracted to Amy in the slightest. He gives her a nauseated look.  
"My expressions of interest does not extend to some convict from down under." He screws his nose up in disgust.  
"Ooohhh, this boy has a death wish." Chloe mutters, still drinking her water.  
"Out of everything you've said tonight, Luke that was a very big mistake." Beca warns, hoping he'd rein himself in if he didn't want to end up in Amy's grasp.  
"Please, I'd rather take my chances with my actual date, than with some trollop who clearly doesn't know when to unstrap the feed bag." He remarks, insultingly, "I regret my interactions with all of you."

He walks off in a huff, clearly not getting the conversation he was hoping for. Amy watches him walk away and somehow doesn't seem as offended as everyone feels she should. She sits down and picks up her drink.  
"He wants me." She says, confidently, before drinking the rest of her beer.  
Everyone cracks up laughing, her outstanding confidence had to be admired.  
"You sure Ames?" Aubrey asks, amused.  
"100%! I guarantee by the end of tonight I'll have him in bed!" She says with a smirk but Aubrey's face becomes very serious, "Legally, Bree, legally!"  
Aubrey groans into her hands, for some reason that didn't make her feel any better about it.  
"Stop stressing, he will come willingly…on all accounts!" Amy says with a wink, making the whole table groan.

…

Two hours later, Chloe and Beca walk down the streets of London hand in hand, laughing at the antics of the night. Beca was feeling beyond happy, even though they still had a lot of working out to do, she felt that they were finally on the same page again. Beca grips Chloe's hand a little tighter, just like she used to do.  
"Are you feeling a little better?" Beca asks, gently.  
"Not really, I swear the closer I get to 30, the less I can drink." Chloe groans, feeling sorry for herself.  
"But you've never been able to drink much anyway, Chlo." Beca giggles, swinging their arms a little.  
"I know, what made me think shotting a glass of whiskey was a great idea, I will never know!" She grimaces, clutching her still uneasy stomach.  
"Luisa can make you do crazy things, that's for sure." Beca says, seriously, knowing what kind of effect the German had on people.

"Speaking of crazy, do you actually think Amy is going to get your boss to go home with her?" Chloe asks, thoughtfully.  
"I don't know, Luke has a type." Beca answers, cryptically.  
"Which is?"  
"Well, Luke is wanting to be CEO, he will sleep with anyone who will either help him further his career or do it to destroy anyone who may get in his way." Beca answers, seriously.  
"Are you serious? What a disgusting person!" Chloe says, thoroughly horrified.  
"According to my staff, I'm the first female manager that's lasted longer than two months in that office." Beca says, oddly proud of that achievement.  
"Seriously?" Chloe asks, completely surprised.  
"Yeah, I get the feeling he's very threatened by new managers, especially female ones. So, he charms them, then seduces them, then breaks their hearts. They're usually gone within the month." Beca explains his process, only knowing this from Emily, who had seen at the very least 5 female managers leave.

Chloe couldn't help but be extremely disgusted, what kind of a person does that to further their career? And Beca's had to put up with that for 15 months? Chloe couldn't even begin to imagine the crap that Beca's had to deal with.  
"He didn't hit in you, did he?" Chloe asks, frowning.  
For some reason, Beca never did get around to telling this story to Chloe. Back then their conversations were brief, because Chloe didn't want Beca getting too upset about leaving her, so it never came up.  
"Yeah, once. There was an odd thing there from day one, I swear he couldn't decide if he hated me or if he was attracted to me. For the first few months he stayed on the hated side, because I was pretty sarcastic towards him." Beca explains, noticing Chloe's smirking face.  
"You sarcastic? I would have never had guessed." Chloe giggles, delightedly.  
"Yeah well, I was sad about being away from home, I had to channel my emotions somewhere." Beca grins, "Anyway, about four months in, he comes over to me and apologies for all the crap and asks to stop fighting. He was trying to make amends and by amends, I mean he wanted to take me to his version of the red room."

Chloe starts violently shaking her head, "Nope, no! Don't continue that part! I still feel sick, I physically cannot vomit anymore tonight."  
Beca chuckles, "Ok well, try as he may, I had to inform him I was a lesbian. That didn't go over well. If Emily wasn't there that night, I'm honestly not sure what would have happened. He looked very angry."  
Chloe looks shocked, "He wouldn't have hurt you, would he? I mean, he's still your boss."  
"In all honesty Chlo, my New York instinct was preparing to kick in and I was trying to figure out which piece of office equipment I could use as a shiv." Beca admits, scratching her head, "I told Emily I would have handled it fine, but seriously, I don't know what I would have done had she not been there."  
Chloe grabs Beca's hand tighter, just horrified at the story Beca had just told her. She starts to think if it was a good idea to have left Amy there in the pub with him, but reasons that Amy was probably scarier than anything he could throw at her. But even so, she worried a little.

"Do you think Amy will be ok?" Chloe asks, voice her concerns.  
"Um, I think so. He was angrier at the fact that I was gay, rather than turning down his advances." Beca says, "Though I imagine Amy being the one taking control in her situation."  
"Oh I don't even want to think about it, I heard enough sounds on the plane." Chloe shudders, "I have never in my life wanted to hear my friends having sex, and now I have those sounds burnt in my brain. Too bad the alcohol couldn't have killed off that memory."  
Beca snorts earning a glare from Chloe, "I'm sorry, it's just too funny! Amy sleeping with her flight attendant and Aubrey walking in? I mean, that's funny!"  
"Poor Aubrey, she actually may need therapy after that. I have always been so careful, so others wouldn't walk in, but Amy is way too comfortable with herself to care." Chloe says, uncomfortably, "Which is great, but I'd never want any of my friends hearing or walking in on me. I don't care confident I am about all of this." Chloe gestures to her body.

Beca laughs again, she had really missed this. Just hanging out and talking about nothing in particular, just being in Chloe's company was starting to make Beca feel whole again. How quickly they fell back into the swing of things, it was just easy for them. Beca looks over to Chloe, she looked pale and still a little queasy. Yet, Beca only saw the beautiful woman she fell in love with two years ago. What this time away has made Beca realise is she never wanted to be without her anymore. She needed to make every moment count.  
"Hey, tomorrow after you've had another good sleep and feel a little better, how about we go on a date?" Beca asks, suddenly.  
Butterflies erupt in Chloe's stomach, "Like have a first date again?"  
"Yeah! We're starting to date again, so why not go on our first date again? I can't promise a $1000 dessert this time, but I think I can make it just as awesome." Beca says, looking into Chloe's eyes smiling.  
Chloe leans forward and kisses Beca, "Yes! I would love to go anywhere with you, Becs!"  
Beca smiles giddily, "Ok, well I better get you home for some rest. We have a big day tomorrow!"


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, we're getting a little closer to the ending, so I hope you're all still with me. Next Chapter is a bit of a long one, but I think you'll like it. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **10.00am the next day  
**

"Where are we going?" Chloe asks, as Beca drags her down a busy street.  
"I'll tell you when we get there." Beca says, laughing at Chloe.  
"Come on Becs, I'm dying to know!" She cries, tugging on Beca's hand.  
"I know, but you'll have to wait. Besides we're almost there..well at least our first destination." Beca says, secretively.  
The two women continue down the street, heading towards Beca's surprise location. Chloe couldn't help be feel a little guilty. With all the excitement of seeing each other again, they had only briefly spoken about the last year and the problems they had. Chloe's apologised for what she did, but she still feels like she had a lot to make up for. Chloe quietly ponders on these thoughts, not noticing where they we're going.  
"Oh good! There's Emily!" Beca exclaims, suddenly.  
"Emily?" Chloe asks, wondering why she was here.  
"Yeah, she organised a few things for me." Beca grins, as they approach the excited brunette.

The see Emily standing out the front of a very large train station holding a backpack, she waves at them excitedly. Chloe looks around having no idea what was going on.  
"Morning Boss!" Emily sings, when they reach her.  
"Hey Em! This is Chloe, Chloe this is my translator and friend, Emily Junk." Beca says, introducing them.  
"Oh my stars! I have heard so much about you!" Emily gushes, reaching out and hugging Chloe suddenly, "I feel like we're already friends!"  
Chloe was rather startled by the sudden hug, she now understands how everyone feels when she does it to them.  
"Oh.. It's really nice to meet you too." Chloe says, struggling to get out of Emily's grip.  
Emily pulls back, looking down at Chloe, "Ooohh you're even prettier than your pictures."  
Chloe blushes, she wasn't sure what to say to this girl. She barely knew anything about her, yet she seemed to know a lot about Chloe. Another thing she begins to feel guilty about.

"So, were you able to organise everything?" Beca asks, amused at Emily's overly friendliness towards Chloe.  
Emily snorts, handing over the backpack she had been holding, "Yeah! Have we ever let you down before? Jessica and Anthony have booked your tickets and I have organised the rest, nearly everything you requested is in the backpack and the rest, well you just have to pick it up when you get there."  
"You guys are the best!" Beca smiles proudly, she really had a great team.  
"Pick what up? And where are we going?" Chloe asks, desperate to know where they were going.  
Emily reaches into her pocket and produces two tickets, handing them to Beca. Emily had a giant smile on her face, she could barely contain her excitement. Beca couldn't help but laugh at Chloe's very confused face, she better put her out of her misery.  
"Chlo, this St. Pancras International Railway station." Beca says, pointing to the station.  
Chloe looks up, still having no idea what was going on.  
"You and Beca are about to hop on the Eurostar." Emily squeals, excitedly.  
"What's the Eurostar?" Chloe asks, very lost.  
"The train to Paris." Beca grins, as Chloe's eyes widen and her mouth drops in surprise.

Chloe was almost too stunned for words. She thought Beca might take her out for a nice lunch or stroll around the park. But Paris!  
"Holy shit!" Chloe gasps, suddenly, her brain finally processing the information.  
"Nailed it!" Beca exclaims, happily, "She said the same thing on our first, unofficial, date when I surprised her with a $1000 dessert."  
"Damn it Beca, you're just giving me really unrealistic expectations for dating!" Emily shakes her head, "Now, I'm going to have to make Benji up his game."  
Beca snorts, "Sorry Em, but Benji is basically a wizard, so he already has that on me."  
"Wait! We're really going to Paris?" Chloe asks, grabbing Beca's arm.  
"Yeah, we're leaving in about half an hour." Beca says, assuring her she was telling the truth.  
"Holy shit!" Chloe mutters, again, looking up at the building in awe, "This is amazing."  
Beca smiles happily, she wanted to make sure this went well. They had been apart for so long and she just wanted to start getting back to they way they used to be, or be something even better.

Emily smiles at the two women, she was so thrilled to see her boss happy again. So, when she received a late night text with instructions from Beca, Emily got right to it. Beca's team would do anything to make her happy and could see that it was starting to work.  
"Oh, just don't take her anywhere near the Louvre." Emily says to Chloe.  
"Why?" Chloe asks, as Beca huffs and crosses her arms.  
"She nearly beat the crap out of a street performer last time we were there." Emily replies, seriously.  
"What!?" Chloe says, bewildered.  
"He grabbed my arse! And if you think for one second that I was going to allow that, than you don't know me very well." Beca grumbles, with a peeved expression.  
"Oh ok, well that makes sense." Chloe nods, understanding completely.  
"Well I'm glad it makes sense to you!" Emily says, exasperatedly, "I thought she'd given herself a death wish, he was twice the size of her."  
"But everyone is twice the size of her." Chloe smirks, earning a shove from Beca.  
"Watch it, Beale!" Beca scolds a giggling Chloe.

Emily shakes her head, "Just make sure she doesn't die! I've grown attached to her, and I can't bring myself to break in a new manager just yet."  
"Hey!" Beca exclaims, sourly.  
Chloe laughs, "I promise I'll bring her back in one piece."  
"Good! Anyway, I better get back to work. The office had been very peaceful this morning." Emily sighs, happily.  
"Oh, I'm so glad you guys aren't missing me or anything." Beca says, a little offended and a little amused.  
"Please, we bloody love you! But it's Luke, he never showed up for work this morning. Most productive few hours I've had in ages." Emily says, sounding extremely relaxed, "Well anyway, I'm off. I'll see you guys later. Enjoy your date."  
Emily waves them off, as she sets off into the oncoming crowd. Beca and Chloe exchange similar startled looks. It was clear that were thinking the same thing.  
"You haven't heard from Amy this morning, have you?" Beca asks, mildly concerned.  
"No…have you?" Chloe says, feeling like Aubrey might very well walk into something she didn't need to see again.  
"Not today." She answers, giving Chloe an awkward look.  
They look at each other, feeling a sense of impending trouble. Beca looks at the tickets in her hand.  
"You know, if we're not here, we can't get involved." Beca suggests, giving Chloe a mischievous look, "Out of sight, out of mind?"  
"Let's go to Paris!" Chloe links her through Beca's and the rush into the train station.

…

Speeding through the country side, Chloe stares out her window. She had many conflicted feelings about her day. On one hand she was beyond excited to be with Beca and to be visiting the most romantic city in the world. But on the other hand, she couldn't help but think she didn't deserve any of it. Just a few days ago, they weren't even speaking and now they were dating again like nothing happened. The weight of it all begins to show on her face. Beca was sitting across from her and watching her carefully as a series of emotions run through Chloe's face.  
"You ok over there?" Beca asks, after a few moments.  
Chloe looks over at Beca surprised, her voice seemed to pull her out of her thoughts.  
"Yeah, why's that?" Chloe smiles, pretending there was nothing wrong.  
"You look like you've got some serious thoughts happening up there." Beca says, tilting her head.  
Chloe gazes over at Beca, she looks at Chloe with concern. She sighs and covers her face, they were going to be in this train for a while. It might be a good time to really talk about everything.

Beca frowns, Chloe seemed upset about something.  
"What is it?" Beca asks, concerned.  
"I can't help but think I don't deserve any of this." Chloe says, her face rather doleful.  
Beca frowns, "What do you mean?"  
"Becs, what do you mean, what do I mean? I have been downright horrible to you!" She cries, tearfully.  
"But we talked about it.."  
"For like ten minutes, Beca! I don't even know how you can even look at me!" Chloe covers her face, "I know you! You're not this forgiving!"

Beca looks a little surprised, but Chloe wasn't wrong. She didn't forgive as easily as she forgave Chloe. Beca was known for holding grudges longer than anyone, yet she forgave Chloe almost immediately.  
"Why? You should be furious with me! You should have thrown me out of your apartment and vowed to never speak to me again." Chloe continues, get extremely upset.  
"Do you want me to do that?" Beca asks, confused at what was happening.  
"No of course not!" Chloe says, shaking her head tearfully, "But I don't understand why you're not."  
Chloe makes a good point, if this was anyone else Beca would have cut ties with them and never spoken to them again. But this was Chloe, Beca loved Chloe more than anything.  
"You must have been so angry with me!" Chloe continues when Beca doesn't say anything, "I'm disgusted in myself, and you don't seem to be fazed. I just don't understand."

Beca looks down at the small table between them, Beca had every reason in the world to not ever speak to Chloe again. Beca tried to keep in constant contact, but Chloe rarely answered. Beca just figured she needed time to adjust. But their contact got less and less over time and when it suddenly stopped, Beca was heartbroken.  
"I was angry and sad." Beca admits, looking back up, "I would ask why you'd stopped talking to me, but no one would really tell me why. It was then I just figured you'd moved on."  
"I kept trying to get in contact with you, because I wanted to hear it from you." Beca continues, "But you never answered."  
"I was scared Beca! At first it was because of the time apart, and then I would read your articles and see your pictures. You seemed to be having such an amazing time." Chloe says, really wanting to explain herself, "Every social media update was like another stab to my heart. You said you would regret something whichever option you took, but it seemed like you didn't regret leaving me. So, I kept my distance, I didn't want you to think I was trying to make you come home. Because if you did, your dream would be unfulfilled and you would resent me."

Beca really frowns at those words, Chloe kept saying that. It made Beca incredibly sad to think that this woman she loved thought that if she tried to stay in her life, that Beca would only resent her for it.  
"Why do you keep saying that?" Beca asks, seriously, "I'd never resent you for anything."  
Chloe sniffs shaking her head, "I know, I was being ridiculous."  
Beca reaches out and takes Chloe's hands, something about Chloe's behaviour suggests this goes far deeper than she's letting on. Right before Beca left Chloe made her promise to stay in contact with her, but as much as Beca tried, Chloe seemed to just slip away.  
"What happened?" Beca asks, seriously.  
Chloe looks a little startled, Beca was giving her such an intense look. It was like Beca knew, she knew something had happened. Chloe lets out a little sob, Beca squeezes her hands tighter, reassuring her that she wasn't going anywhere this time.

Chloe looks up at Beca, "I haven't told anyone this..but a month or two after you left, I was walking home and amongst the on coming crowd…I saw Tom." Her voice quivered at his name.  
"What!" Beca says, loudly making Chloe jump, "What happened? Did he hurt you?"  
"No, he didn't see me. I got out of there as quick as I could, but it just.." Chloe's eyes fill with tears, ".. brought back a lot of memories and things he used to say to me."  
"Chloe.." Beca looks on with massive concern.  
"He wanted to become a musician, and always said if he made it big, I'd have to just deal with the fact that he would be leaving." Chloe says, shaking her head, "He'd say it all the time, this was before he accused me of cheating."  
Beca looks disgusted, she and Chloe had spoken about Tom, but she never really pushed the issue with her. It was obviously painful for her, but Chloe always had a smile on her face. She was happy and loved life. Beca never knew just how deep her wounds went.

"I came to New York for a fresh start and I got it." Chloe sniffs, with a sad watery smile, "I met you and Stacie. You guys didn't treat me like broken object that needed to be fixed. You guys were just like a breath of fresh air."  
"That whole year was amazing, I got a great job, made some amazing friends and my old best friends were coming to New York too. But then, you left." Chloe hangs her head sadly, "And I know, we spoke about it and we both agreed for you to go, and I thought I would be ok, but after I saw Tom, old thoughts started to resurface again. I couldn't stop thinking of all the things he used to say and then when I found out about Luisa, I just couldn't handle it."  
"Chloe…" Beca breathes out, feeling utterly horrible.  
"I was being stupid and I have no excuse for my actions, because I know you're not Tom. But with you gone, New York wasn't home anymore." Chloe finishes, letting her tears roll down her face.

All Beca could do was stare at the heartbroken woman in front of her. She got it now, Chloe didn't feel broken with her. She felt safe and whole and with Beca gone, she was that girl hiding from Tom again. Chloe didn't want Beca to resent her because she didn't want to admit that she needed Beca to feel like herself. Because if she made Beca stay, her dream would be unfulfilled and that would be Chloe's fault. Or at least that what Chloe thought. Beca suddenly stands up and moves around to sit by Chloe.  
"Do you honestly think I would have thought any of that Chlo?" Beca says, moving some of her hair away from her face, "Why didn't you just talk to me? We could have worked it out."  
"I wanted too, I really did. But whenever you said you were coming home, suddenly you couldn't. I thought you just didn't want too." Chloe cries, "It just fuelled my thoughts."  
Beca huffs, "You can thank Luke for that. Chloe, I wanted to come home everyday, you have to know that. I have been miserable without you."

Chloe looks at Beca, her bright blue eyes shining from her tears, she could see so much love and concern in Beca's face.  
"And I never meant to hurt you with Luisa, that happened so quickly and you have to know how awful I felt." Beca says, knowing Chloe wasn't the only one at fault here, "In fact she made me realise something."  
"What's that's?" Chloe asks, with a thick voice.  
"That out of everyone in this world, the only person I want to be with is you."  
Chloe sniffs, looking at Beca with watery eyes, "Really?"  
"Yes! When I come home, it'll be you and me all the time. If I have assignments, you're coming with me. I've just been so utterly miserable without you." Beca says, sincerely, leaning and resting her forehead against Chloe's, "I'm going to be around so much, you'll be sick of me."  
Chloe gives a watery chuckle, "I'm not sure that's possible."

Chloe leans into Beca, needing to feel close to her. Beca wraps her arm around Chloe and holding her tightly. They were both wounded and tired, but they were together again. They can work this out, because they were Beca and Chloe. Chloe smiles as she feels Beca rubs her hand reassuringly up and down her arm. They could have been traveling anywhere in the world, but nothing would beat this, just the two of them in each other arms.  
"Do you forgive me?" Chloe asks, quietly.  
"Only if you can forgive me." Beca responds, gently.  
"I love you Beca Mitchell." Chloe says, leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips.  
"I love you too." Beca says, relishing in the moment.

…

"Merci beaucoup!" Beca says to the lady behind the counter, as she hands Beca a large wicker picnic basket.  
She had gone into a small gourmet deli to pick up the last of her supplies for the date with Chloe. She exits the store to find an awestruck Chloe gazing around the city. She couldn't believe how beautiful it all was. The cobble stone streets and the beautiful shop fronts, it was exactly how she imagined it.  
"Ok M'lady, we are now off to our final destination." Beca says, as she approaches Chloe, "Just a few minutes walk that way and we'll be there."  
Beca points in the direction they were going, Chloe turns her head and sees the Eiffel Tower. She looks back to Beca a little slack-jawed.  
"We're having a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower?" She asks, beyond stunned.  
"Oh damn, what gave it away?" Beca grins, readjusting the basket.

The two set off to The Champ de Mars. The beautiful and green park area that a lot of people visit. Beca couldn't have thought of a better way to have their second first date than in the most romantic city in the world. Chloe seemed much happier after having their heart to heart on the train, it had obviously had been eating at her and Beca was so relived to see her old Chloe again. She reaches forward and scopes Chloe's hand up into hers, holding it tight. Chloe's heart soars, it felt like old times, just like when they were in New York. They were coming back together again and nothing could make her happier.  
"Oh my god! Beca, this is incredible!" Chloe gasps, looking up at the Eiffel Tower a few minutes later.  
"It's beautiful." Beca laughs, as she pulls out a picnic rug out of the backpack Emily gave her.  
Beca spreads out the rug and starts open up the picnic basket.  
"That's it Beca! I'm just going to have to marry you now!" Chloe says, sitting down on the rug, "My expectations for dating are ruined, nothing will compare to this!"  
"Ah, I'm just ruining dating expectations for everyone today." Beca laughs, "Who would have thought that I, Rebecca Mitchell, self confessed loner, could be such a romantic?"  
"If someone was to tell me that you could pull this off the first day I met you, I would have laughed so hard I would have peed myself." Chloe smirks, cheekily.  
"Hey!" Beca says, throwing a strawberry at her.

Beca pulls out the rest of the food, there were French cheeses, fresh bread, cured meats, fresh fruit and macarons and other French pastries. Only to be paired with some of the best wine the Paris had to offer.  
"I don't think we can eat all of this." Chloe says, overwhelmed at how much food there was.  
"Yeah, Emily went a little overboard." Beca says, frowning at the huge amounts of food laid out before them, "She's an overachiever that employee of mine."  
Chloe smiles, she wanted to hear about everything going on in Beca's life. Including her team of employees.  
"She seems really sweet, very excitable though." Chloe says, before cutting herself some cheese.  
"Yeah, she kind of reminded me of the first time I met you." Beca jokes, winking at Chloe, "But she's great, she very smart, you know she knows nine languages."  
"Jesus! How does someone so young know that many languages?" Chloe asks, surprised.  
"Her parents realised when she was young that she was good with words and just rolled with it, I guess." Beca shrugs, before taking a bite of some bread.  
"What about the other two, Anthony and Jessica?" Chloe asks, sipping her wine.  
"Ah, my silent spies." Beca grins, being very fond of them, "They will barely utter a word, but they can find anything. Hotel deals, cheap plane fares, secret hot spots, sold out concert tickets, the juiciest gossip in the office. You name it, those two can find it."

Chloe smiles, it was clear that even though Beca hadn't been all that happy, she at least wasn't alone. She had some friends to keep her company and that made Chloe very happy.  
"I wonder if they can find out what happened to your boss." Chloe says, jokingly.  
Beca looks a tiny bit guilty, turning her face away from Chloe. Chloe squints at Beca suspiciously, she wasn't telling her something.  
"You've already asked them, haven't you?" Chloe asks, crossing her arms, slightly amused.  
"Ok, yes, I may have shot them a text before we left London. I may hate Luke with every fibre of my being, but he is also Warren's nephew." Beca says, trying to explain, "And besides, we're still not a 100% sure who Amy is. For all we know she could have him tied up somewhere."  
"I've known Amy since I was 18, and I can honestly say…you have a very valid point." Chloe says, thinking about it, "I don't know why I've never questioned Amy's background before this. I just thought Australians were a little odd."  
"I've met a lot of Australians and none are as odd as our Amy. But she's still our friend." Beca says, grabbing more food to eat, "What's the bet we're being followed now?"  
"God I hope not! That sounds scary!" Chloe says, as an involuntary shiver runs through her.  
Beca nods, remembering how annoyed and unnerved she felt when she found out. She realises that Amy's heart was in the right place, but she just seemed to take things to the extreme. Beca hadn't ever heard of a friend having her friends trailed and tracked to keep them safe, but than again, what friend would own up to that?  
"I asked her the other day who she was and she gave me this weird look and said I wouldn't believe her even if she told me." Beca says, with a haunted expression.  
"Oh!" Chloe says, not taking any comfort from that in the slightest.

They decide to move away from the subject of Amy Jones, starting to think it might be better for everyone if they didn't know who she was exactly. They continue eating their way through the enormous amount of food before them, Beca laughing at the satisfied moans coming out of Chloe's mouth.  
"You're going to have to roll me back to the train station, Becs." Chloe remarks, as she bites into a macaron.  
"I wouldn't make you walk back after eating all this, we were going to ride on bicycles back. Burn off all this rich food." Beca says, pretending to be serious.  
"Oh how wonderful!" Chloe groans, laying down on the rug.  
Beca chuckles to herself, it couldn't have been a more perfect day. The sky was bright blue with not a cloud in it. It wasn't too hot or cold, it was the perfect temperature for a spring day. Beca reaches into her backpack and pulls out a medium sized flat rectangle shaped gift.  
"Hey, I have something for you." Beca says, to Chloe, making her sit up.  
"Beca! What's this for?" Chloe gasps, taking the gift in her hands.  
"It's just a little something to say I'm happy to have you back in my life." Beca smiles, a tiny little blush creeps into her cheeks, but she wears it proudly.

Chloe's whole face lights up, she leans forward and kisses Beca.  
"Thank you." She whispers, gratefully.  
"Open it." Beca encourages.  
Chloe grins as she rips open the present to find a photo frame. Chloe turns it over and gasps at the picture. It was her, sitting on a wall by The River Thames. It was when she got lost a few days ago, she sat on the wall to calm herself down. She remembers feeling incredible relaxed as the breeze blew through her hair. It was obvious in the picture that's what she was feeling. It was beautiful.  
"When did you take this?" Chloe asks, looking up at Beca.  
"Stacie and I were on the London Eye, while she was on the phone, I spotted you through my camera lens." Beca says, taking the photo in her hands, "I honestly thought I was hallucinating. I thought that I was missing you so much, that my brain had somehow created you. But I wasn't and there you were."

Chloe listens, letting the biggest smile form on her face. To think, it took Beca three weeks to tell her about the first picture, but it didn't even take her three days to tell her about this one. She had come so far and Chloe was so proud of her.  
"Beca, it's beautiful!" Chloe smiles, her eyes watering again, but this time happy tears, "I love it. How do you always find my best angles?"  
Beca laughs, "It's a gift!"  
The two women giggle at each other, feeling as happy as they could be. The lay down together on the picnic rug, gazing up at the sky.  
"It's a shame we're only here for lunch." Chloe says, with a sigh.  
"Yeah, Paris is a cool place. We should come back here one day." Beca says, wanting to stay but knowing they couldn't.  
"Do you think so?" Chloe asks, hopefully.  
"Yeah, we'll steal Amy's plane and come over again one day." Beca jokes, making Chloe laugh.  
The two women lace their fingers together, knowing this was the first day of the rest of their lives and nothing was going to come between them ever again.


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's Notes: Hey Guys, chapter 30 here we come, five more after this. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Beca and Chloe didn't arrive back in London til early evening. They were both tired but extremely happy. They had talked through their problems and knew how to start working through them. Beca hails a cab and both women jump in. Beca pulls out her phone, she had turned it off while she and Chloe were together. They had a lot to catch up on and she didn't want to be interrupted. Once Beca's phone turned back on, it immediately lit up with in coming messages. Not surprising, Beca tends to get a lot of messages, but she did see a lot from Jessica.  
' _That's odd!_ ' Beca thinks, Jessica never sends more than one or two messages.  
Beca clicks them opened and begins to read through them and view the several photos attached. By the time she got to the end, she was almost in a fit of giggles.  
"What's so funny?" Chloe asks, looking over.  
"They found Luke." Beca grins, gleefully.

It in fact took most of the day to track him down it seems. Given the fact that Luke was not friends with anyone in the office, it took a while to crack his passwords to his phone so they could trace it. Anthony and Jessica were the best of the best and were able to trace his phone location to a hotel in London. The same hotel that, incidentally, Chloe, Amy and Aubrey was staying in.  
"So, where was he?" Chloe asks, interestedly.  
"At your hotel." Beca says, beyond thrilled at this development.  
"No. Way." Chloe gasps, covering her mouth, "Did Amy actually take him back to her hotel room?"  
"I don't know if it was hers, but it was certainly was one in your hotel. Jessica says, they traced him to that room and had to bribe a cleaner to open up the door." Beca explains, bursting with glee.  
"Oh no!" Chloe chuckles, uncomfortably.  
"She continues to say once the door was opened, the room looked trashed." Beca says, "Here she some took photos."

Beca leans over and show the photos to Chloe. There were three pictures of the hotel suite. Couches were flipped over, the dining table was broken, pictures hanging off the walls, side tables and decorations were smashed and scattered everywhere.  
"Oh my god!" Chloe says, startled.  
"Jessica said that they continued into the suite and found Luke with one hand handcuffed to the bed, with bite marks and hot pink lipstick all over him." Beca snickers, thinking that all her Christmas had come at once as she shows the picture of Luke handcuffed to the bed.  
"Do you really think Amy did this though?" Chloe asks, but obviously knowing the answer.  
"Well, Jessica and Anthony approached the bed to make sure he was alive. He was, but he was very disoriented." Beca continues the story, "But she sent me this picture of the mirror in the bedroom."  
Beca pulls up another photo of a very large mirror. In bright pink lipstick the letters F.A.J. were written in large writing, followed with two small x's underneath with a kiss print beside them.

Chloe didn't know what to think now. Who the hell was Amy? And what the hell did they do in that room? Chloe wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to either of those questions. She looked up at Beca who didn't seem as concerned as she was.  
"Is he ok?" Chloe asks, uneasily.  
"Yeah, he's ok. A little hungover and very embarrassed, but Anthony and Jessica says he's fine. In fact they said he was extremely nice to them, nicer than he's ever been. Who knew all he need was a one night stand with Amy to give him some manners." Beca laughs, happily.  
"But she left him there, handcuffed to the bed. Doesn't that worry you?" Chloe says, concerned.

That did seem rather strange, but she knew Amy was above many things. She takes a closer look at the pictures and spots something around Luke's neck. It was a long chain with a small key attached. That was a small relief, as crazy as Amy was, she was at least merciful.  
"No look, the key is around his neck." Beca points out.  
"I guess, but that is crazy!" Chloe says, nervously, "You don't think he'll punish you for this do you?"  
Beca shrugs, "The worst he can do is fire me, and that would mean me coming home earlier. So I'm not overly bothered. But I have a feeling he's not going to want anyone to find out about this."  
"He's not going to want the office to know he slept with a dominant woman that left him handcuffed in a trashed hotel room." Beca says, grinning, "Jessica says, he's already offered them a pay rise for their discretion."

"Can he even do that?" Chloe asks, surprised.  
"I guess, he is very high up in the company." Beca reasons, "It's funny though. I wonder what Amy said to him to seduce him."  
"That would have been quite the conversation." Chloe reasons, uncomfortably.  
"I'd imagine a battle of wits, but you can't help but wonder what the hell they did in there." Beca says, looking back at the pictures of the destroyed hotel room.  
"If it was anything like it was on the plane I would imagine they had very rough and very loud sex." Chloe grimaces, awkwardly.  
Beca laughs, "Well, well, well, Amy's a freak too!"  
At that point Chloe starts laughing, "Oh god! What if she is an international mistress?"

The two women both fall together in a fit of giggles, but the more things they find out about Amy, the less crazy their suspicions were sounding. But all they could do was laugh, because the alternative simply worried them.  
"Do you think we should talk to Amy?" Chloe asks, uncomfortably.  
"I suppose, at least if I get all the information, I can be well prepared if Luke does try to pull anything shady with me." Beca says, agreeing, "Or at least use some of it against him."  
"Becs, blackmailing is illegal." Chloe giggles, giving her a playful tap on her arm.  
Both women laugh again, as their cab continues through the streets of London, heading towards the very hotel Beca's boss was found in.

...

"Hey you guys!" Stacie says, welcoming as Beca and Chloe enter the hotel suite that Amy, Aubrey and Chloe were staying in, "How was your date in Paris?"  
"Amazing!" Chloe gushes, kissing Beca on the cheek, "We had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower."  
"Jesus Beca! You're putting the bar high for the rest of us!" Stacie comments, sarcastically.  
"Well, I think that it was a wonderful idea." Aubrey says, being complementary of Beca.  
"And it was!" Chloe says, happily.  
They go and sit with Stacie and Aubrey in the very large sitting room. The sitting room had white walls with large windows along one wall. Beautiful gold curtains adorned those windows. In the room it had two huge charcoal coloured lounges with a big square glass top coffee in between them. There was dark hardwood floors with an enormous white rug under the lounges.

"Where's Amy this fine evening?" Chloe asks, looking around and not seeing her larger than life friend.  
"We haven't seen her since this morning." Aubrey says, frowning and looking at Stacie.  
"Yeah, she showed up about 10.30 this morning after not coming back last night. She didn't tell us anything about where she was or what she did, but she just had a late breakfast and than said she had some business to attend too." Stacie adds, frowning as well, "And she hasn't been seen since."  
Chloe and Beca exchange troubled looks, business could literally mean anything in Amy's world. The fact that they knew very little about Amy other than the business woman she portrayed, was still very concerning. But maybe they were just jumping to conclusions.  
Stacie and Aubrey notice Chloe and Beca odd exchange of looks. It seemed that they knew something that they didn't.  
"What happened?" Aubrey asks, her lawyer sense detecting was picking up a disturbance.  
"Well…" Chloe says, awkwardly turning her head.  
"Well what?" Aubrey snaps, pursing her lips.  
"It appears Amy took my boss Luke back to a suite in this hotel last night. The room was completely trashed and Luke was found passed out and covered in bite marks and lipstick with one hand handcuffed to the bed." Beca says, having no problem telling the story.

Aubrey and Stacie appear speechless for a moment, as if that explanation was too ridiculous to even be real. But this was Amy they were talking about, Aubrey couldn't help but feel sick.  
"Oh my god!" Aubrey groans covering her face.  
"Holy shit!" Stacie says, not sure if she should be impressed or not.  
"At least Amy's insuring you're always going to have work, Bree." Chloe reasons, trying to see the bright side.  
Aubrey groans even more as an amused Stacie rubs comforting circles on her back.  
"I know your boss is a jerk, but is he ok?" Stacie asks, as Aubrey seemed to be beyond words.  
"As far as I know he's fine. He was just a little dazed when my team found him this morning." Beca smirks, "Do you want to see photos?"  
Aubrey groans again at Beca's words, but Stacie nodded vigorously. Beca pulls out her phone and scrolls through the series of pictures that Jessica had sent her.  
"Holy shit! What the hell did they do in there?" Stacie asks, shocked at how damaged the suite was, "It looks like an earthquake hit it!"  
Aubrey peaks through her fingers and sees the picture making her almost cry and hide back behind her hands. She can feel a very large lawsuit hanging in the air and it would most likely affect her.  
"What is that?" Stacie gasps, looking at the mirror picture and seeing the big bright pink letters written across the mirror.  
"A calling card of sorts, I guess." Chloe says, awkwardly, "That's the only thing we can think of."  
"Well, those are Amy's initials, Fat Amy Jones." Stacie remarks, awkwardly.

The group falls silent, a question that had been hanging in the air the past few days was really starting to weigh on them. Who exactly was Amy Jones? Stacie and Beca knew very little of Amy's past, but what they had heard from Aubrey and Chloe, it didn't seem unusual. But then again, how much did they know?  
"Who is Amy?" Stacie says, out loud, wondering who her boss was.  
"She's always been our funny and goofy Amy to us. But the last year or so has got me questioning a lot of things." Chloe frowns, feeling uneasy, "Who are all these people she says that she knows? And who the heck has been following Beca and Emily?"  
"Aubrey?" Beca asks the distressed woman sitting beside Stacie.  
Aubrey lefts her head up from behind her hands, light red hand prints appear on her face as she had been pressing against her face a little too hard. She looks at Beca frowning.  
"What makes you think I'll know?" Aubrey says, a little defensively.  
"Well, I do know you did a background check on me when Chloe first moved in with us." Beca says confidently.

An eerie silence falls over the room as all eyes were now on Aubrey, she starts to blush a little.  
"How do you know about that?" She asks, extremely embarrassed.  
Chloe and Stacie looked shocked at Aubrey, but Beca simply smirked.  
"I didn't, I just took a wild stab in the dark." Beca chuckles.  
"Damn it, Beca!" Aubrey groans, annoyed.  
"You really did a background check on Beca?" Chloe asks, seriously.  
"You moved to New York, Chloe, I had to make sure you were safe, ok!" Aubrey says, trying to make out that it wasn't a big deal.  
"Did you do one on me too?" Stacie asks, giving Aubrey an odd look.  
Aubrey really turns red now, "Yes, but only because I was worried about Chloe!"  
Stacie was more impressed than mad, Aubrey was loyal to a fault. She's only ever wanted the best for her friends, even if it meant checking to see if someone had a criminal record.

"Well, if you did one on us, I'm assuming you've done one on Amy. You being her lawyer and all." Beca says, confident that Aubrey may know a little more than she lets on.  
Aubrey huffs and stands up. She begins to pace around the room anxiously. She never thought she'd tell anyone that she did background checks on them, but Beca could be an eagle eyed observer sometimes.  
"Aubrey?" Chloe asks, wanting an answer.  
"Yes… I did one on Amy as well. But only recently, it was after her little slip up with Beca's sexual tryst." Aubrey points at Beca.  
"You guys are never going to let me forget it, are you's?" Beca scowls, shaking her head.  
"No." They all answer in sync.  
Beca scoffs and rolls her eyes, but gestures Aubrey to continue.  
"Well, she's always said she knew a lot of people. But I just thought it was because she was popular. Because in college, she was. She was friends with everyone." Aubrey begins to pace again, "But when she admitted to having you followed, I was…concerned."  
"So, you ran a background check?" Beca asks, Aubrey nodding that she had, "Well, what did you find out?"  
Aubrey frowns, "Well, that's just it. Not whole lot. Amy comes from a very small town in Tasmania, Australia. It's called Doo Town."

Chloe, Stacie and Beca all start laughing, thinking that Aubrey was having them on.  
"Doo Town? Are you serious? That can't be a real place!" Stacie laughs, looking at Aubrey.  
"I thought so too, but I searched it and it's real. It's like vacation type town, its part of a larger township, called Eaglehawk Neck." Aubrey says, dismissively, "But that's not the point, her family has this big house on the outskirts of the town right near the ocean, in Pirates Bay."  
They all start laughing again, Aubrey had to be having them on.  
"Doo Town, Eaglehawk Neck, Pirates Bay? What kind of names are those?" Beca snorts, wondering if Australians were just taking the piss with the obscure names.  
"I don't know, but they're real ok." Aubrey snaps, very annoyed.  
"Ok, ok, they're real, we believe you. So her family owns a giant house which would probably make them rich, right?" Chloe asks, not surprised because Amy herself had a lot of money.  
"Well I don't know, because here's the strange part, her parents are listed as unemployed. As are her grandparents." Aubrey says, starting to pace again.  
"That's not strange, babe. They could be retired." Stacie says, reasonably.  
"No, you don't get it, Amy's grandparents stopped working in their 20's and then they had her dad and he's never had a job. There are no income records for any member of her family until Amy moved here when she was 18." She says, feeling unsettled, "Which makes no sense given that they don't work and their house is more like a mansion."

The four of them fall silent, that was a little strange. They had met some of Amy's family before at the opening of her club Memories, and they all seemed perfectly nice and perfectly normal. Chloe suddenly remembers something from that night.  
"Wait, when I met Amy's dad he's said Amy got her business skills from him. She was a chip off the old block. He told me that he was a successful businessman." Chloe says, wondering if Aubrey's information was correct.  
Aubrey frowns and stops pacing, "That can't be true, he has never had any links to any business ever in his life."  
"I remember her dad, he seemed nice enough." Beca says, thinking back to that night.  
"How do you remember? You were completely inebriated!" Aubrey says, raising her eyebrows.  
Beca frowns, "I was not that drunk ok! Besides, I remember quite clearly you being extremely upset over somebody getting a little too clos.."  
"Ok I get it! You do remember!" Aubrey cuts her off, not wanting to remember how jealous she was of Stacie's co-worker, "Well, what did her dad say to you?"  
"He didn't say much, except he introduced himself as Lefty Lawrence Jones." Beca says, only now thinking that that name was odd.

That certainly was an odd name, even for an Australian. They all look at each and can't help but think that Amy's family might be in some shady business. But they couldn't dwell on it, because the front door opens. They all turn to see Amy walking through the door. She looked every part the successful businesswoman she claimed to be. She was dressed in a beautifully tailored pant suit. It was black with a faint silver pinstripe. She was wearing shiny black pumps and her hair had an immaculate blowout. As she walked into the suite she seemed to ooze confidence and power.  
"Sup, guys?" She asks, ruining her powerful image a little.  
"Hey Ames, where have you been?" Stacie asks, trying not to sound like they had just been questioning their friend's life.  
"Oh you know, here and there. Just doing a little business while I'm in town." Amy says, dismissively, "What are you guys doing? Having a double date?"  
"No, just talking." Aubrey says, a little too quickly.  
Amy gives her a strange look, "Ok well, I'm going to go have a hot shower and maybe call the masseuse up for a little foot rub. I won't bother you while you're with your girl, Gingy!"

Amy gives them a comical wink and starts to walk into her direction of her room. The other four women stare at her with an uneasy look. What business has she been attending for her to be dressed like a powerbroker?  
"Hey Amy, are you in the mafia?" Beca says, going for broke, but makes everyone suddenly stare at Beca wondering if she had lost her mind.  
Amy stops in her tracks, something about her demeanour made everyone in the room very unsettled. Amy slowly turns and gives Beca an emotionless look. It was like she was trying to read Beca and to try and figure out how much she knew.  
"That's a question you don't want to know the answer too, Shorty B." Amy says, after an uncomfortable pause, "The less you know about me, the better off you are."  
The sentences linger in the air, creating a tense atmosphere. Everybody stares at Amy, wondering if she was joking or if she was as serious as she looked.

"Are you an international mistress?" Chloe asks, breaking the tension.  
"I'm sorry, what?" Amy asks, so surprised by the question, that she thought she heard it wrong.  
"Well, it's just that you took Beca's boss to a hotel suite last night, right?" Chloe asks, seriously, "And you wrote on the mirror in lipstick. Like some kind of calling card."  
"Oh!" Amy says, thinking about it, "I just did that for shits and giggles."  
The four women look at each other, that was the kind of thing Amy would do.  
"So, you did take Luke home?" Beca asks, just for clarification.  
"Yeah, he was a challenge that's for sure. But once I had him in my grasp, I gave him pleasures most straight men never experience." She says, oddly proud of herself.  
"What does that mean?" Aubrey asks, not sure if you really wanted to know the answer.  
Amy smirks at how uncomfortable her friend was, "Think about." She says, with a wink, before turning on her heel and walking off towards her room.  
"International Mistress?" She snorts to herself, "I'm going to put that on my business card."  
Amy leaves the room and leaves her friends with more questions than answers. Maybe they just weren't supposed to know who she was. Maybe it was better that way.

* * *

 ***FULL DISCLAIMER*: Doo Town, Eaglehawk Neck and Pirates Bay are actually real places in Tasmania. However, they have no recorded ties to any mafia activities. They are only used for humourous names in the story.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, Amy is a bit of an enigma. But on to the next chapter, only four left. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **5 months later**

After a tearful goodbye to her friends and girlfriend 5 months ago, Beca had felt so renewed by their visit, that she had just been smashing though her work. Every target that was set, she just blew through the roof. Not to mention, she had gotten her health back on track too. Before Aubrey and Stacie left they drew up an eating plan for Beca to ensure she got healthy again. She was proud to say she had put almost all of her weight back on and was now getting a healthy 8 hours sleep a night. And much to the delight of her team, they now go out for dinner and drinks regularly, with Benji too of course. But even as things had gotten better, she couldn't wait to step a board that plane back to New York. It was so close now, she could almost smell the stale smell of trash and urine. She was so excited, she couldn't wait.

This current morning, Beca was sitting at her desk working on her latest London article. Her fingers fly over the keyboard, writing about another amazing experience.

 ***ring ring***

"You're speaking with Beca Mitchell." She answers, professionally.  
"Miss Beca." It was Warren Middlesworth, her boss.  
"Warren, how are you?" Beca smiles, tucking the phone between her neck and her ear.  
"Wonderful, my dear, wonderful. I just called to ask if you could come up to my office for a moment." He says, ever so politely.  
"Yeah, of course. I'll be up in a few minutes." Beca smiles, but wondering what he could want.  
"Delightful." He says, before hanging up.

Beca hangs up her phone, gets up and heads to the elevator, only stopping to let Emily know she was going up to Warren's office. She enters the elevator and hits the button for the top floor, the executive suite. Beca was a little nervous to go up there, the last time she was up there was when Dean tried to extend her contract and she threw a chair at him. The elevator dings and opens the door. Beca steps out into Warren's waiting room. His secretary looks up and smiles, informing her she may go straight in. Beca nods and walks towards the huge wooden double doors at the other side of the room.

Beca opens the doors to Warren's office. It was big and spacious, with great big windows so he could see over the city. Warren was at his desk, which was huge and made of mahogany. He looks up as she enters and smiles broadly.  
"Welcome, Miss Beca, welcome." He chimes, happily, gesturing to a seat in front of his desk.  
Beca remembers this chair, it was the one she threw at Dean, but she sits anyway, hoping she didn't break it.  
"You're looking well, dear." He says, appraising her, "Are you feeling better?"  
"Yes, a lot better. Thank you." Beca says, feeling a little awkward.  
"Good, I'm so glad. I want to apologise, I know I don't get to speak with you often, but if I had realised what was happening, I would have put a stop to it." He says, sincerely, referring to Luke refusing her time off.  
"Its fine, it's been resolved." Beca assures him.

The kind hearted man give her a warm smile, "That is very kind of you, Miss Beca. But I have to tell you that everything that happened with you, it has taught us a few lessons."  
Beca laughs, "Like what? Bolting your chairs to the ground so crazy Americans can't throw them at your top managers?"  
Warren chuckles heavily, his plump belly shaking as he does so, "You know, for someone so tiny, you threw that chair with so much force."  
Beca smiles, still wondering how she didn't get fired for that.  
"But no, that is not what I'm talking about." Warren says, after he stops laughing, "I'm talking about your health. We are working to put a program in place to keep our adventurers health in tip top shape."

Beca listens with interest as Warren continues, "We are going to have quarterly health checks, full check overs. I'm installing a nap room for those who are still adjusting from the jet lag, we're going to have an in house masseuse and I'm revamping the lunch room level and having a proper kitchen put in. I will have a team of chefs cooking quality food to ensure everyone gets good food to fuel them for their work. I'll be doing the same in our American department as well."  
Beca looks extremely surprised, "Wow! That sounds amazing!"  
"I'm just so sorry that it took for you to get so low for me to realise that my staff could be suffering under the workload." He says, earnestly.  
"I'm just sorry I never said anything sooner." Beca admits, scratching her head, "I guess I just didn't want to give Luke the satisfaction."  
Warren's normally kind expression turns sour, "Yes well, that boy has a lot to answer for. Ever since he took over your department, the European blog visitors have plummeted. While the London version has sky rocketed, even the New York one is still doing very well without you. But, I swear he turns everything he touches into dust!"  
Beca looks rather uncomfortable to be having this conversation with Warren, she hated Luke, but hearing his own Uncle speak ill of him was a little uncomfortable.  
"I'm sorry Miss Beca, I shouldn't be discussing these issues with you. It is a little unethical of me." Warren says, shaking his head, "I just don't know what to do with the boy."

"He wants to be CEO one day and take over from you." Beca says, looking at Warren's worried expression.  
"I know, and as much as I want the company to stay in the family, I don't think he would do well in such a role." Warren admits, heavily, "Sure he's had all the training and has all the degrees, but he lacks character and drive for the right reasons, not the selfish ones he usually has."  
Beca felt for the man, it couldn't be easy getting older and having your life's work in limbo.  
"Speaking of Luke and his selfish desires, I have to ask, did Dean tell you guys I was gay?" Beca asks, wondering if Warren knew, "Because Luke seemed very surprised when he hit on me and striked out."  
A cheeky grin forms under Warren's thick moustache, "I had been hearing a lot of rumours about Luke and some undesirable behaviour towards our female managers. But I simply couldn't catch him at it. While I was a very huge fan of the work you were doing in New York, when Dean suggested you I was worried. I didn't want another promising hopeful have a fall from grace from underneath my nephew."

Beca snorts, wondering if Warren meant to make a sexual pun.  
"I voiced my concerns to Dean, but he simply laughed and said that you would have no problem with that and that you could handle Luke no problem." Warren says, with a light chuckle, "Of course I had no clue what he meant, but when he said you were gay and had zero interest in men, I knew you were the right person for the job. I knew you would come in and shake things up."  
Beca smiles, how strange that she was basically hired because she was gay. That was something that never happens.  
"I will say, the staff have never been happier and I'm sure they'll be very sorry to see you go." He says, with a sad smile, "But you deserve a break, after all, with just your work contributions alone, you've quadrupled our sales in past three years and that's not even factoring in everything else the company is doing."  
Beca looked stunned, she knew she had done well, but she never knew that her work had done this much.

"You look surprised, Miss Beca?" Warren says, noticing her shocked face.  
"I mean, I knew my work had made sales rise, but I didn't know to what extent." Beca says, breathlessly.  
"We have had a few very good years, that is for sure. The company hasn't ever been this profitable. My dear, you have done nothing but make us proud with your work." He smiles, warmly, "Which is why I've call you up here."  
Beca tilts her head, confused. She thought it was just to apologise and tell her about the health program.  
"Dean has informed me that one day you'd like to own your own gallery, is that correct?" Warren asks her seriously.  
"Well, maybe one day, I've definitely been thinking about it recently. But that is still a long off dream." Beca says, awkwardly, wondering how many other things Dean had told him about her.  
"Well my dear, it's no longer a far off dream anymore." He says, smiling, handing her a manila folder, "This your new gallery."

Beca feels more shocked than she's ever felt in her life as she takes the folder from the beaming man. She opens the folder and sees information of the sale of a building in New York City with a bunch of photographs of what the building looked like. It was currently a gutted space, but it was huge and had so much potential. Tears spring to Beca's eyes, words seem to fail her. She looks back up to Warren to check to see if he was joking, he continues to beam while nodding his head vigorously. Beca's hand springs to her mouth, she honestly couldn't believe it. She owned her own building, it was all there, in Beca's name.  
"All you have to do is at the bottom and it's yours. My gift to you." Warren says, gleefully.  
"Are you serious?" Beca manages to squeak out.  
"But of course, my dear. You have done more for this company than I ever thought possible. Please consider this three years of bonuses." He says, seriously, "Well, that is after we completely fit it out of course."

The tears in Beca eyes threaten to spill over as she looks at Warren in disbelief. She never thought in her life that she could have something like this so young and so quickly in her career. She was just waiting for someone to jump out and yell 'surprise we tricked you!', but no one does.  
"Warren, I…I don't know what to say…thank you.." Beca splutters out, trying to stop her tears from falling.  
"My dear, it is my tremendous honour. Just promise me that you will come back and write guest articles from time to time." He says, full knowing that after a year off she probably wouldn't come back full time.  
"Of course…I'm just…so speechless!" Beca says, letting a few tears escape.  
"You're a special and talented woman, Miss Beca and it has been such a privilege to have you working for my company." He says, sincerely.  
"Well, I haven't finished working for you yet." Beca sniffs, wiping away some more tears.  
The man laughs heartedly, "Yes of course, you still have two months left."

Beca beams at her boss, he was such a kind hearted man. She would be sad to leave his company, but she knew it wasn't forever and they would still stay in touch.  
"Miss Beca, while I have you here, may I ask your opinion on something?" He asks, suddenly.  
"Sure thing." Beca says, she would be willing to answer anything he had to ask.  
"I wasn't going to speak about this with any of my employees, but seeing as you won't be my employee for much longer, I suppose I could talk to you as a friend." He says, sounding like he was going to ask her something serious.  
"Yeah, of course Warren." Beca frowns, wondering if everything was alright.  
"Well, I'm getting older and I'm starting to slow down. Running two divisions in two different countries is starting to get a little too much." He says, sighing, "I have a great team in New York, but none of my top executives shows enough drive and promise to run the company."  
Beca nods, listening intently, wondering what it was that he wanted to ask her.  
"So, I've been thinking and even though he's not at the top yet, that with some extra training and guidance, that maybe Dean could one day take over the New York division." He says, sounding a little unsure, "What do you think?"

That was a massive question to ask her, and Beca seems a little taken aback by it. If this is what Warren wants, then he would intend for Dean to take over and not Luke and that sure would create a lot of conflict. But on the other hand, Dean had a lot of business experience on top of his photography skills. He would indeed make a great CEO one day, if that's what he wanted.  
"He's never mentioned to me that's what his career path would be, but I think he would do an amazing job." Beca says, thoughtfully, "I suppose you'd have to ask him, but he would be a great choice, he's kind and fair and is always willing to get the job done."  
Warren smiles warmly, he knew he'd get an honest from Beca and it wouldn't involve any kind of bashing towards Luke who was intended to take over. Warren nods curtly at Beca, knowing what he was going to do now.  
"Excellent. Well, before you go, I must ask you to have one of you pictures printed for my office. I want to have one before you become globally famous." Warren says, with playful wink.  
Beca snorts, "No problem, boss! You can have ten if you want!"  
Beca gets up to leave, but before she does she walks around to Warren. If anyone deserve a hug it was him, he stands up and embraces her. She couldn't even begin to express her thanks, she could only hope he could feel it through her hug. Warren pats her gently on the back as he feels happy tears forming in his eyes. What a wonderful feeling it is to help someone with their dream.

…

The first thing Beca did when she re-entered her office was to grab Emily. Beca was visibly shaking and had tear tracks on her face, which made Emily very concerned.  
"Beca, are you ok?" She asks, as Beca drags her out of the office and on to the street, still holding the Manila folder that Warren give her.  
"I need to tell you something, but it can't be in the office." Beca says, sniffing.  
"Beca…you're scaring me…what's going on?" Emily says, nervously, as she tries to dodge the oncoming crowd of people.  
"I just need to tell you something, Em. Come on, let's go to my apartment." Beca says, knowing her apartment wasn't far away.  
"You need to tell me something? Beca, you're not dying, are you?" Emily cries, getting very scared.  
"Emily!" Beca shakes her, tugging her arm a little with her hand firmly in her wrist.  
"Beca, you didn't say no! Beca, I couldn't handle it if you died!" Emily says, her voice getting thick.

Beca has to suppress a giggle, Emily was a little extra with her emotions sometimes and didn't do well with surprises. Beca stops and turns to her.  
"Em, I'm not dying, I just need to tell you something." Beca assures her, gently.  
Emily nods, trying to not cry, because for a second she had let herself believe that Beca was dying and that was a thought she just wasn't mentally prepared to handle. Beca sets off again dragging her through the crowd, towards her apartment. She was thankful it wasn't far, because she could tell Emily wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. They finally reach Beca's building and go upstairs. Beca sits Emily down, because she looks terrified at what Beca was about to tell her.  
"Do you want a drink or anything?" Beca asks, thinking she could get her something.  
"Just tell me!" Emily shouts, now clutching a cushion like her life depended on it.

Beca looks at Emily partially amused, but she should just put her out of her misery.  
"Ok, ok." Beca says, sitting down, "I just want to tell you what happened up in Warren's office."  
"Oh Beca, you didn't throw a chair at someone again, did you?" Emily frowns, awkwardly.  
Beca rolls her eyes, "That was one time!"  
"Not according to Stacie." Emily argues, having heard some stories from Stacie when she was here.  
"Do you want to know or what?" Beca snaps, Emily nods.

Beca hands Emily the Manila folder that Warren had given her. Emily frowns wondering what it was. She flips it opened and looks at the paperwork and photos inside.  
"What am I looking at?" Emily asks, seriously.  
Beca grins, "You know how you would always make fun of me for taking too many photos on our trips, and I would say that I was just getting ready for the day I owned my gallery?"  
Emily nods, "Yeah."  
"And you know how we would joke how you would come with me and sell my photos to people from all over the world. But, then we would laugh at how ridiculous that was?" Beca continues explaining to Emily's confused face.  
Emily looks at Beca not really catching onto what was going on, "Yeah, I remember, what about it?"  
"Well, it's not a dream anymore." Beca says, not being able to contain her excitement.

Emily frowns in confusion, looking back down at the photos and finally catching on to what Beca was saying. Her mouth drops in shock.  
"Are you serious? How?" She asks, in disbelief.  
"Warren said that I should consider it 3 years' worth of bonuses." Beca says, grinning.  
"Oh my stars! You're going to have a gallery!" Emily jumps up, shouting.  
Beca nods excitedly, "I know!"  
Emily grabs Beca and pulls her into a giant hug, she was so excited for her friend. She had worked so hard in the last few years and this was only going to help further her career.

Emily pulls back, "Oh my! We're moving to New York! Well I mean, you're moving back, but I'm moving to New York! I've always wanted to live there. Oh, I have to talk to Benji! He's been wanting to move back for a little while and now we have a reason."  
Beca grins at her friend's babbling excitement. She hadn't even asked Emily to go with her yet. Emily was just already coming with her, Beca wasn't even sure she had a choice anyway. That made her incredibly happy, she was really going to miss Emily when she went home, but now she won't have too.  
"Em, you should probably think about this. I don't even know if people would buy my pictures, you don't want to give up a great job just for me." Beca says, letting Emily know that it could be a disaster.  
Emily snorts, "Beca, wherever you are, I will be! You're not breaking up our team now things are getting good! Besides, you wouldn't be able to do this without me."  
"Really?" Beca raises her eyebrows, slightly amused.  
"Of course, I speak all different languages. You speak English, sarcasm and you still haven't completely mastered German yet." Emily says, seriously, "Besides, who else is going to know all the stories behind your photos. I was there, I can tell them."  
Beca begins to laugh, "Ok, ok, you've convinced me!"

Emily throws herself back down on Beca's couch, sporting a giant smile. Who could have believed that this tiny woman she met two years ago would have changed her life so much? Two years ago, she was considering a career change and then Beca showed up and turned the company upside down. Emily has been on more adventures than she ever thought possible. She would stay with Beca for as long as she could, because she knew it would take her to the most amazing of places. Beca throws herself down next to Emily, feeling happier than she'd felt in ages.  
"Oh, but before we do any of this, I need your help with something really important." Beca says, Emily notices that Beca's smile got even larger.  
"Sure, what do you need?" Emily asks, wondering what she needed.  
"Well, it's something I've been thinking about for the past few months and now I'm going home with things falling into a really good place, I think it's time." Beca says, with a happy sigh, "Which is why I need your help?"  
"Time for what? And what do you need help with?" Emily frowns, tilting her head.  
"I need you to help me find a ring, because I'm going to ask Chloe to marry me." She grins at Emily, as Emily lets out happy shriek.


	32. Chapter 32

**Author's Notes: Good Morning Guys, thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you know how much I enjoy reading them. Only 3 chapters left. Enjoy! :)**

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A few days later Emily and Beca walk through London, gearing up for a day of shopping. Emily was almost skipping, she was so happy. One her favourite people in the world was taking a step for the one she loved and to Emily that was an amazing thing to witness. To see Beca become happier and more confident in the last few months made Emily happy and made her optimistic for her own future.  
"Oh my stars! I'm so excited!" Emily gushes, as the approach the first jewellery store.  
"Calm down, Em, we're just looking for the moment. I'm not even sure how much I want to spend." Beca says, looking at rings through the windows.  
"Well, I was doing some research last night…" Emily starts, making Beca smirk to herself, of course Emily would study to shop for an engagement ring, "..and most people say that you should spend at least 3 months of your salary."  
"Jesus!" Beca says, surprised, because she earns a substantial income, "I'd better get a self-cleaning ring with a diamond the size of a marble for that amount of money."

Emily sniggers, "Well, I'm sure we can find something really nice regardless of the price."  
"I suppose, moneys not exactly an issue, but I don't want to spend exorbitant amounts and not get something nice." Beca says, looking at rings that seemed rather small with large price tags.  
"Oh for sure, but do you know what you want the ring to look like?" Emily asks, looking at all the sparkly diamonds.  
Beca wasn't even sure, it wasn't like she shopped for jewellery very often. There were so many different cuts to the diamonds, different metals, would Chloe like a simple band or would she like one with designs and encrusted with diamonds? She should have put more thought in to this.  
"I should have spoken to Aubrey." Beca says, feeling overwhelmed.

Emily gives Beca a sympathetic look, even Emily felt a little overwhelmed and she wasn't even buying the ring. Beca walks away from the jewellery shop needing to think.  
"Ok, if you wanted a ring for yourself, what would it look like?" Emily asks, walking after her.  
Beca thinks about it, she had simple tastes and wouldn't want anything overly flashy.  
"I guess a simple band, nothing to flashy." Beca answers, walking slowly.  
"So with like one big diamond?" Emily asks, walking beside her.  
"Yeah, I guess." Beca shrugs, putting her hands in her pockets.  
"Ok, now, do you have a similar style sense to Chloe?" Emily asks, seriously.  
"No, we have very different styles. She's all girly and likes sparkly things." Beca answers.  
"Ok, we're getting somewhere. So I think we should be looking for something a little more glitzy." Emily says, confidently.

Beca pauses, when she thinks about Chloe, she sees ever part of her sparkling. When she enters a room she shines brighter than everything and everyone in there. Without even trying, she commands everyone's attention, but at the same time making everything and everyone she touches better.  
"Maybe something with a diamond as the main focus but with a few little ones on the side to complement it." Beca says out loud, Emily nods.  
"Yeah, that's sound nice." Emily says, starting to get a good pictures, "Gold or Platinum?"  
"Oh Jesus! I don't know." Beca says, sounding stressed.  
"I think gold, it'll complement her skin tone and hair colour." Emily says, confidently.  
"Yeah…yeah, that sounds good. Ok, now we know where to start." Beca says, feeling a little calmer, "Thanks Em, that was really helpful."  
"That's why I'm here." Emily says, with a smile.

The two women continue walking through London, chatting together as they go.  
"Have you spoken to Benji about maybe moving to New York?" Beca asks, looking up at Emily.  
"Not maybe, Bec, we are! I told him the good news and he was so happy. He's studied all he can here and has been really homesick lately. He honestly can't wait." Emily says, sounding beyond excited.  
"Have you had a chance to talk to Warren?" Beca asks, wondering if Warren would be mad at her for stealing his best translator.  
"I did this morning. He had a feeling I would go with you, but he did offer me an incredible pay rise to try and get me to stay." Emily admits, feeling a little guilty.  
"Wow, really?" Beca asks, surprised.  
"Yeah, but I told him it wasn't about the money and it wasn't that I didn't love the company. But after four years, I think it's time for a change." Emily says, knowing it was time to move on.  
"How'd he take it?" Beca says, feeling a little guilty.  
"Like I said, he had a feeling. But he's happy that I'm finding my path in life." Emily smiles, linking her arm with Beca's, "But we have to come back for guest articles at least 10 times a year."

Beca laughs, she was really going to miss Warren Middlesworth. He was so kind and generous, Beca was sad to be leaving but it was for the best.  
"Well, we have a lot of work to do before the gallery can open." Beca says, her arm still linked with Emily's, "I hope you're ready for hard work."  
"I'm always ready! But it's a shame Jessica and Anthony can't come." Emily says, a little sad.  
"Yeah, I'm going to miss my silent spy's. But it would be better for them to stay on here." Beca says, earnestly, "I won't have much need for IT all the time. But I'm sure they could just hook me up with an amazing website."  
"Oh, they could do that overnight for you." Emily says, confidently, "And I'm sure they would keep it up to date in their spare time."  
"I'm sure they could." Beca laughs, wondering what they actually do for fun.

They begin to approach another store, Beca felt a little more confident about what she was looking for. The shop assistant begins to help them, bringing out a variety of rings for her to see. They were all beautiful and glittery, but they weren't quite right. Emily tries them on and models them for Beca, who simply frowns and shakes her head.  
"No, it's still not right." Beca sighs, as Emily takes off the ring.  
"Why don't you like about it?" Emily asks, handing the ring back to the shop assistant.  
"I don't know, it's just not right." Beca frowns, not really knowing what the problem is, "They just kind of all look the same."  
Emily looks at all the rings the woman had showed them and Beca was right. They all had very similar looks, and nothing really stood out. To Beca, Chloe was the most special, most unique person, so why wouldn't her ring be the same?

"You know, there is a handicraftsman jewellery store not far from here. Nothing they sell is the same because they're all one of a kind." Emily says, thoughtfully, as they exit the store, "But they are rather pricey because they use only the highest quality materials and they're all hand made by the owner of the store."  
Beca looks at Emily thinking, that might be why nothing was standing out to her, and this could be the best solution for her.  
"I mean, the price doesn't bother me too much, I just want something that's as special as her, you know?" Beca says, as they walk out into the crowd of shoppers, "So, maybe a one of a kind ring is what I'm looking for."  
"They have pretty incredible stuff, I remember seeing the store when I first moved to London. I was so mesmerised by their craftsmanship." Emily explains, "It would be my dream to own something from them one day."  
"Alright then, lead on." Beca says, convinced.

After about ten minutes of walking they come to a very small jewellery store. It was a little out of the way from the normal hustle and bustle of the main shopping areas. It appears to be a very old store, like it had been here for decades. They enter the store and are greeted by a young lady at one of the glass counters. Beca takes a look around and is amazed to see jewellery designs like she had never seen before. Some of the items looked like they belonged in a fantasy world or as props on a movie set. Such intricate designs and unique coloured stones, Beca at last felt like she was in the right place.  
"Welcome to Farwell and Sons. How may I assist you today?" The young assistant smiles at them.  
"I am looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend." Beca says, with Emily hovering behind her.  
"I see." She smiles, and looks to Emily, "How long have you two been together?"

Emily immediately jumps, "Oh no, no! Not me! I'm not her girlfriend!" She blushes heavily, while Beca looks at her smirking at her reaction, "It's not like I wouldn't be flattered or anything because she's amazing…but she's my boss...and I'm heterosexual…and I have boyfriend."  
Beca and the young woman stare at Emily as she blushes profusely at the prospect at being called Beca's girlfriend.  
"Are you ok there, Emily?" Beca asks, extremely amused.  
"I'm fine." She hangs her head, trying to hide her blushing face.  
"This is my friend and employee, Emily." Beca says, giving her a sympathetic tap on the shoulder.  
The young woman smiles, "I apologise, what would you like the ring to look like?"  
Beca explains sort of what she was after and the young woman pulls out a few rings to show her. Beca smiles, this was more what she was looking for, she could feel butterflies in her tummy as she imagines giving one of these rings to Chloe when she asks her to marry her. Then she sees it, a ring right in the back of the glass counter.  
"Can I see that one there?" Beca asks, pointing to it.  
"Of course." She smiles, opening the counter and pulling it out, "This one is one of favourites. It's a 24 carat gold band, with a princess cut 2 carat diamond in the centre, the band is encrusted with 1 carat worth of diamonds, all with flawless clarity."

Beca takes the ring, it was stunning. She had never seen anything like it in her life. The band had small cut outs with decorative swirls and filigree on the sides of it. It looked like the ring had flowers growing on the band. Little diamonds sparkle as Beca could see they were strategically placed to catch the light perfectly. The main diamond had a claw set, with further diamonds running down the top of the gold band. It was like something out of a fantasy movie, Beca was just beyond stunned at how beautiful it was. Beca feels herself becoming excited and nervous.  
"This is amazing." Beca mutters, in awe of the beautiful ring.  
"Thank you, my grandfather has created and crafted every design you see in here. No two items are alike." She smiles, explaining, "The one you're holding was the first one he had crafted after a three year break."  
Beca looks up, "Why did he have a break?"  
"You see, my grandmother passed away and he thought he had lost his inspiration." She says, sadly, "But one day, three years later, when we were on holiday in Italy, we were visiting a famous garden. It was magnificent, flowers and plants everywhere with the most stunning fountains. It was on this day, he spotted the most beautiful older woman by one of the fountains. He said he notice that she was so entranced by the water and seemed at one with the world. He said something in him was reawakened and that she inspired him to start crafting again and thus, you see the ring before you."

A warm feeling spreads through Beca as a giant smile sparkles across her lips, she looks to Emily, who was wearing a smile just as big. A ring that was craft from inspiration, inspiration that was formed for the sight of a beautiful woman. Beca knew a little something about that. Beca and Emily look at each other, they both knew it was perfect and it was the one.  
"I'll take this one, please." Beca smiles broadly, handing it to the woman.  
"Wonderful." She says, warmly, as she walks off to get her paperwork and ring measurements.  
"What a perfect ring." Emily mutters, watching her go.  
"Unique and one of a kind." Beca says, with a happy sigh, "Just like Chloe."

…

 **6 weeks later**

"And while we will miss them more than words can express, I want to wish them the best of luck on their new journey together." Warren says, to the crowed office.  
Beca and Emily stand beside him, somewhat awkwardly as he gives them a toasted send off. He was terribly sad to see them go, but he knew it was only the start for them and he was the stepping stone they needed to find their way in the world.  
"Miss Emily, you came to us an 18 year old girl who just wanted to see the world. You just happened to be one of the smartest linguist I had ever met. You could speak more languages than all of our translators and had much better manners as well." He smirks, making everyone giggle, "But you showed so much enthusiasm that day, that I just had to hire you. You have been an invaluable member of our London team and we wish you luck, my dear."

The crowd applauded Emily, as she hugs Warren, letting a few tears slip from her eyes. She couldn't help it, Warren given her, her first real life job. It was the job that gave her more opportunities than most people would ever get in a lifetime.  
"And Miss Beca, what can I say about you?" He chuckles heartedly, as does everyone else, "Dean hired you on a gut feeling, which I'll be honest, I wasn't particularly pleased about."  
Beca laughs, "Don't worry, I was just as surprised about it as I'm sure you were."  
"But after a year, you had already started transforming our whole company. The way we did things changed, because of you. You brought our company further than all of my top executives combined." Warren says, proudly, "She's 25, you guys, pick up your game." He says jokingly to his top managers, who all laugh uncomfortably.  
"And then you came here, and from day one you shook things up. Even though it didn't always go over well." He smirks, referencing to her rocky relationship with Luke, who was sulking sourly in the corner at the back of the office, "And even though it's been a tough few years, you stuck it out and made us so incredibly proud."  
Beca smiles at the older man, who continues with a cheeky grin, "She also made as a hell of a lot of money. So you can thank her for all the cool office improvements."

The office crowd erupts and cheers, Beca laughs and pretending to be embarrassed and takes a little bow.  
"Miss Beca, I know you are going to go and do great things. And you will continue to make us here at Travel Your World very, very proud." He says, with a huge smile, "And I'm sure you both will continue making me very, very proud."  
Beca couldn't help but feel incredible touched at his wonderful words. She was going to miss Warren and everyone at company that treated her so nicely, but Beca knew it was the right decision to move on. She was also beyond excited to have Emily come with her.  
"Thank you Warren." Beca says, as she hugs the older man, "I'm honestly going to miss all of you guys, well... nearly all of you."  
There was a low snigger that ran through the crowd, they had been ring side for her and Luke's ongoing feud for two years and they knew she wouldn't miss him.  
"And I promise we'll come back and visit when we can." Beca assures them, "Thank you for making my time here so special."

Everybody claps and cheers for their favourite manager, before dispersing off to their desk. Emily and Beca look at each other nervously, this was it, they had officially finished.  
"Well, you two. I want you promise me that you'll stay safe and you'll give this new assignment everything you have." Warren says, seriously.  
"We promise." Both women say, smiling at their now ex-boss.  
"We'll explore the unexplored and find the best treasures." Emily says, enthusiastically.  
"And I will make sure she doesn't kill us while doing it." Beca smiles, assuringly.  
"That's good." He hugs them again, pulling back giving them a watery smile, "Now, go make me proud." He gives them one last look before walking off through the office.

Beca takes a deep breath, they had already cleared off their desks and only came in to say goodbye. The two start saying their goodbyes to the staff as they make their way to the elevator. It takes them 20 minutes before they reach the elevator, but once inside they look at each other.  
"This is it, Em." Beca grins, excitedly, "We going to New York."  
"Beca, I'm so excited and nervous and I kind of feel like I'm going to throw up as well." Emily says, taking a deep breath, "I just can't believe, that once we step out of this elevator, we're going straight to the airport."  
"Well, you better believe it, Benji has been texting me pics for the past half an hour at how amazing Amy's plane is." Beca laughs, pulling out her phone.  
"That was so nice of her to fly us to New York." Emily says, sweetly.  
"It's the least she can do with all the trouble she caused me. Not to mention she was following you too." Beca says, still not having forgiven Amy for her unwanted protection.

The elevator dings and the door opens. The two women step out and make their way to the street where Warren had a private car waiting for them.  
"I guess she meant well, though." Emily reasons, as she slides into the car.  
"Violating our privacy to do so, isn't my idea of meaning well, Em." Beca says, putting her seat belt on.  
"I know." Emily says, looking out the window, "Do you really think she's in the mafia?"  
"Honestly, I have no clue. Amy shows us who she wants us to see and she seems to deem us worthy of protection, so I suppose that makes us special. But I just don't know how much of it is…legal." Beca says, worriedly, "But according to Aubrey, as far as she can see, all of her business deals have been above board and Amy has promised not to have any of us followed anymore."  
"Oh, well that's nice of her." Emily says, feeling strange about saying that about Amy's odd promise.  
"No, she's just going to have body guards assigned to us." Beca frowns, unsettled.  
"Oh." Emily says, wondering which was worse.

After a while, they arrive at a secluded part of the airport, where they see Airlene parked on the runway, ready for take-off. A young handsome man with dark hair waits at the bottom of the stairs. Emily and Beca get out of the car, their luggage had already been set a head of time. The walk towards the jet, both really excited to get on board. They had never been on a private jet before, so this would be a first for all of them.  
"Miss Mitchell and Miss Junk, I would like to welcome you aboard Airlene." He says, kindly.  
"Thank you. But..ah.. Do you know why Amy called the plane Airlene?" Beca asks, seriously.  
"Miss Jones says it's an excellent name for an aircraft as fine as this." He responds, with a straight face, sounding like he had said this to a lot of people.  
"She pays you to say that, doesn't she?" Beca asks, looking him in the eyes.  
"Yes Miss, she does." He answers, trying not to sound ungrateful.

Beca nods, knowing Amy paid people to do the strangest things.  
"Miss Mitchell, Miss Junk, please come aboard, we have everything ready for take-off and Mr Applebaum is waiting for you. He is currently entertaining our pilots." He says, gesturing them to go up the stairs.  
"Is he making things disappear?" Emily asks, excitedly.  
"Yes Miss, he is." He answers, Emily runs up the stairs to go see Benji's tricks.  
Even after knowing each other for almost two years and dating for the past 8 months, Emily was still so enthralled by Benji's magic.  
"I'm sorry, I'll make sure he makes everything reappear again." Beca says, awkwardly.  
"Thank you, Miss." He smiles, sounding like he was a little stressed, "Please, when you're ready."

Beca starts walking up the stairs and enters the jet, overwhelmed at how amazing it was inside. Beca wondered how much pleading she would have to do to get Amy to lend her the plane more often.  
"Beca!" Benji shouts, when he sees Beca enter the plane, "We're going home!"  
"I know!" Beca smiles, slamming down into one of the white lounges, "I can't wait to smell that stale air!"  
"I know! I want like five dirty water hotdogs and at least three pretzels." Benji says, dreaming about the food in his hometown.  
"Oh pretzels! I've missed pretzels!" Beca says, moaning at the thought.  
Emily smiles, watching the two drool over food thoughts, she was so excited to go to New York. Even though the thought was overwhelming, she was moving to the city with her boyfriend and one of her best friends. Not to mention, Beca's friends had already taken her under their wings. It didn't seem so scary when she knew she had people there that cared for her.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, please fasten your seatbelt's and prepare for take-off._ " Comes a voice over the loud speaker.  
Everyone grins with excitement, buckling up their seatbelt. In just over seven hours, Beca would be home. She had been dreaming of this day since she left and she couldn't be happier that she was coming home with friends.  
"Ok Em, are you ready for our next adventure?" Beca says, feeling the happiest she felt in years.

 **In the next chapter, a homecoming...**


	33. Chapter 33

**Author's Notes: Good Morning you guys, thanks again for the wonderful reviews. I'm sorry you're all sad it's coming to an end. But everything has to end at some point. But don't worry, we still have two chapters to go. Enjoy! :)**

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It was a crisp autumn day in New York City. The trees had already started to turn a wide variety of oranges and golds and their leaves were slowly falling to the ground. People were starting wear thicker clothes and were pulling out their sweaters as the weather began to turn quite cool as winter's fury started to approach. New York City had changed a lot in the time that Beca was gone, but then again, it changed all the time when she was there too. But as much as things had changed, so much was exactly the same. There was still a great hustle and bustle amongst the crowds and visitors of this grand city. It still had the same feeling of excitement that buzzed through the streets, which were always so full and fast-paced. The bridges still stood proud and strong and the huge buildings loomed over the city, showing off its amazing architecture, reminding everyone why it was one of the greatest cities in the world.

"I can't believe we're in New York City!" Emily squeaks, as she looks out the window, trying to see everything as they pass by.  
"Well, believe it Em." Beca grins, nudging her.  
"I'm a New Yorker now!" She grins, giddily.  
"Oh Em, no quite yet. There are some requirements before you can call yourself a New Yorker." Beca explains, with Benji nodding beside her.  
"There is? Like what?" Emily asks, a little worried.  
"First you've got to get yourself an apartment with no bed bugs, you have to see a cockroach fight a rat for a piece of pizza at least once and of course, you'll have to steal someone's cab before they get in. Then, and only then, will you be an official New Yorker." Beca says, seriously.  
Emily looks at her concerned, "But I don't want to steal someone's cab! That would be rude."  
Beca and Benji smirk at each other, Emily was so sweet. They would have to work hard to protect this precious child and not let her become a harden New Yorker.  
"Oh, if that's the only thing that concerns you, I'm sure you'll be ok then." Beca says, patting her on the back.  
Emily then realises everything else she said, "Wait, you're not joking about the cockroaches and rats?"  
"No, that part's crucial." Beca says, with a straight face.

The shiny black escalade the trio were travelling in, pulls up on the New York City street. The three very excited people exit the vehicle. As soon as Beca's feet hit the pavement, she finally felt at home. She turns to see Benji grinning madly as he was feeling the same way as she was. Emily stands beside them taking everything in, she takes a deep breath in.  
"It smells weird." Emily says, with a frown.  
Beca and Benji grin at each before taking their own deep breaths. Grimy and stale with just a hint of urine and just a touch of food cooking somewhere in the distance, to them it smelt like home.  
"We're home!" They shout, making Emily jump in surprise.  
"Ahhh, I've been dreaming of this day for so long!" Beca says, closing her eyes and breathing deeply again.  
"It smells incredible!" Benji grins, at Emily's confused face.  
"You both are as weird as the smell." Emily mutters, as their driver sets their luggage on the sidewalk.

The three of them make their way into Beca's old apartment block, dragging their many suitcases as they go. Benji and Emily hadn't sorted out their apartment yet, so they had decided to stay at Benji's parent's house until they get on their feet. But before all that, they were heading upstairs to Beca's apartment to see everyone. Beca swings the door open and is blasted with a lot of noise.  
"WELCOME HOME!" The room shouts.  
A huge smile takes over Beca's face as she sees everyone she loves standing in the living room. Aubrey and Amy grinning at her, while Stacie was jumping up and down and Chloe had almost succumbed to a force of happy tears. The living room was covered in decorations, the streamers and balloons looked like they had exploded everywhere and there was a huge 'Welcome Home' banner hanging on the wall.

"Hey guys!" Beca says, happily, as all four of them rush forward.  
They all grab Beca and drag her into a group hug. Beca hadn't ever had this many arms around her, but she had to admit, she felt very loved. Aubrey, Amy and Stacie back off, leaving Chloe clutching Beca, with happy tears streaming down her face.  
"Hey you guys!" Stacie says, to Benji and Emily, "Come in."  
Stacie grabs them and drags them in, giving them welcome hugs too.  
"Come on, Chlo, there's no need to cry." Beca says, feeling her own tears starting to prick in the corner of her eyes.  
"I can't help it!" Chloe cries, not wanting to let go and holding on a little tighter.  
"Chloe, she's not going to disappear!" Amy says, trying to pry her arms off Beca, "Jesus! She has to breathe at some point.

It takes about ten minutes for all the excitement of the welcoming to die down and everyone simply starts to enjoy their company. Stacie had made a plethora of food and had the drinks flowing.  
"This is a party, so we needed to do it properly." She insists when Beca asks her why there was so much food.  
"You're looking great, Shorty." Amy says, appraising her, "You're finally getting your curves back."  
Beca snorts at the odd complement, "Thanks Amy." She says, feeling a little weird.  
"Watch it, Amy!" Chloe says, pointing at her, "Those are my curves you're talking about!"  
"Calm down Gingy, I was just saying she's looking good with a bit more weight on her butt." Amy says, looking at Beca's butt.  
"What am I? A piece of meat!" Beca says, now everyone was staring at her butt.  
"Yes! But you're my piece of meat." Chloe mutters behind her.

"Well, you are looking well, Beca." Aubrey says, trying to undercut the sudden sexual energy that entered the room.  
"Thanks Bree, I've been sticking to the eating plan that you and Stacie made for me." Beca assures her, "And I've been going to bed on a regular schedule. Which I'll have to re work now I'm home, but I have been feeling a lot better."  
"Nice job, Shorty! So, did you finally learn how to cook?" Stacie asks, poking Beca in the arm.  
"Oh she did!" Emily pipes up, "She made Benji and I chicken curry and rice the other night. And not packet stuff, like from scratch."  
"Shut up!" Stacie shouts, surprised.  
"No!" Chloe says, also surprised.  
"And it was edible?" Aubrey asks, curiously.  
"Hey!" Beca shouts, feeling very insulted.  
"Yeah, it was amazing, especially for Beca." Emily smirks, earning a glare from Beca.  
"Watch it, Emily!"

The group laughs, feeling really relaxed in each other's company. Even though that had all come to London for a visit, Beca could feel that today was extra special. The love in the room was so warm. She could see that Emily couldn't stop smiling. Beca knew she was a little nervous to move to New York, despite her excitement. Her friends had just accepted her as apart of the family and that made Beca truly happy.  
"So Amy, how's Memories going?" Beca asks, when she finds herself sitting next to her on the couch.  
"Swimmingly! The current theme is Pirates!" She exclaims excitedly.  
"Pirates?" Beca asks, with a raised eyebrow.  
"Yeah, I didn't do a competition this theme. I'm paying homage to my hometown. You know, I used to live near a beach call Pirates Bay." Amy says, with a reminiscent smile.  
Beca looks at Amy very uncomfortably, she did already know this, but she still wasn't sure she wanted to know what Amy's family actually did. It may put her in a compromising position.  
"Really? That's cool." Beca mutters, sipping her drink.  
"Oh, I meant to ask you, how was your flight? Was Airlene as amazing as you were expecting?" Amy asks, with a proud smirk.  
"It was pretty amazing, Amy. It was way more comfortable than most of my flights." Beca admits, feeling less jet lagged than she usually would.  
"So...Is all forgiven?" Amy asks, wiggling her eyebrows.  
Beca looks at Amy, she was still her friend, but with all the trouble she caused, a trip on a private jet still wasn't enough. It would take a lot more than that before Beca could completely forgive her.  
"No." Beca says, emotionless.  
"Damn it! You lesbians are so hard to please!" Amy grumbles, crossing her arms.

While Amy continues to grumble, Chloe could be heard laughing and clapping as Benji begins to wow her with his slight of hand.  
"How do you do that?" Chloe says, her eyes wide with wonder as Benji makes her bracelet disappear.  
"Ah, a magician never reveals his secrets." Benji says, with a wink.  
"He won't even tell me how he does it." Emily says, though sounding like she didn't want to know.  
"I just love magic!" Chloe says, in awe as Benji tells Chloe to check her pocket.  
Chloe checks her pocket and finds her bracelet. Chloe squeals with delight as she pulls out the bracelet, while Emily happily claps. Benji grins at the delighted faces in front of him, this was the main reason he did magic, to create wonder and happiness.  
"Benji! Do you do parties?" Chloe asks, seriously.  
"Well, I haven't decided what I'm going to do now that I'm home. So I guess I could, what did you have in mind?" Benji asks, thinking it might be good to have a steady income while he figures out how to get a show.  
"You should do a show for my Christmas party. My boss loves magic, I'm sure she'll say yes." Chloe says, excitedly, before looking around and lowering her voice, "And I'll try to convince Amy to make her next Theme for her club Magicians. It could be your first show."  
Benji's eyes widen in his own wonder, he barely knew this woman and she was trying to help him with his magical career. What a great place he was in his life, he was so happy that he ran into Beca that day in a flower field in Amsterdam. After that day, his life has never been the same and for that, he was eternally grateful.

The party continues on happily, but after a few hours of fun conversation and laughter, Benji and Emily decide it was time to go. They themselves had a few things to do and catch up with Benji's friends. Not to mention, Emily had to meet Benji's parents for the first time, something she was a little nervous about. Amy also waves them off, saying she had to get ready to open Memories. Aubrey and Stacie say they were going out for dinner, to give Beca and Chloe so time alone. Beca throws herself down on her couch, really feeling at home. Chloe throws herself down next to her, Beca's arm immediately wraps around her.  
"I've missed this!" Beca says, feeling herself sink into the couch, "I'm so glad to be home."  
"I'm glad you're home too." Chloe says, looking up at Beca.  
Chloe cuddles closer to Beca, reminding herself that this was real and Beca was actually home. It wasn't one of her dreams, she was in her arms and she wasn't going anywhere.  
"I'm so happy." Chloe mutters, as she nuzzles into the crook of Beca's neck.  
"Me too." Beca smiles, peacefully.  
"Promise you'll never leave again." Chloe whispers, her voice has a pleading tone.  
Even though Beca had already promised her this, she knew Chloe would need reassurance for a very long time and she was perfectly ok to give her as much as she needed.  
"Not unless you're with me." Beca promises, "From now on wherever I go in this world, it'll be you and me….and occasionally Emily."

Chloe giggles, she knew Emily was no threat and was the sweetest person she had ever met. She and Beca were a well-oiled travelling machine. Chloe makes a mental note that she would have to get Emily to teach her the ropes.  
"That sounds perfect." Chloe smiles, "As long as she gets a separate room, because I can't be held responsible for the things she'll witness if she'd stay with us."  
Beca throws her head back laughing, to think three years ago, that comment would have made her blush so hard she would have had to leave the room and not remerge again for a few days. Beca had grown up a lot since she met Chloe and for that she will be eternally gratefully.  
"Well, she's not here now." Beca says, wiggling her brows suggestively.  
"Oh, well what do you suggest we do?" Chloe giggles, into the crook of Beca's neck.  
"Let's go to our room and I'll show you." Beca says, standing up.  
"Our room? I like the sound of that." Chloe purrs, as Beca drags her down the hall, to spend some quality time together.

…

Beca walks down the street, her feet creating rhythmic music as she goes. It had been a few days since she had returned for London and she had been spending it with her friends and girlfriend. They were getting back into their old ways and Beca couldn't have felt happier. Walking through her old neighbourhood, a huge grin spreads across Beca's face. She had already stopped off at Bev's diner and got herself a coffee, she had never seen Bev so excited. Nothing could dull her mood, she didn't even care that Dirty Ray on Forth Ave flashed her. She was home and it felt amazing. Beca had learnt a lot in the past few years, but the main thing was that it didn't matter where in the world she went, this is where she always what to come back too.

Beca continues down the street, heading towards her new building. Beca could feel herself getting giddy as she was getting closer. Her own gallery, a dream she used to laugh at herself for even having, she going to fulfil it. She knew she had a lot of work ahead of her, but she wasn't going to rush it. This was something she never thought she would ever achieve and she knew she wouldn't be here without the people who believed in her, so she was going to make sure she did it right. She rounds the corner and she feels her heart quicken with excitement. She could see it, the front of her new building. It took all Beca's self-control not to let out a girlish squeal as she comes to a stop. There it was, right in front of her, her gallery in all its glory. It was a rare one storey building, sandwiched in between two larger buildings. One housed a very fancy restaurant that Beca had reviewed three years ago and the other had a hipster café on its bottom level. But it didn't matter what was next to her, this was her building. It may be gutted and empty now, but Beca could already see how amazing it could look with a little bit of hard work.

She fishes in her pocket and gets out the keys to the front door. She unlocks the door and enters in the dark building. Beca pulls out her phone and turns on her flash light, lighting up the room.  
"Holy shit!" She whispers, suppressing an urge to let out an inhuman noise of excitement.  
It was huge, but very empty. No extra walls, just big wide opened space. Beca walks further into the building and notices there were a few rooms towards the back. They appeared to be a bathroom, a kitchen and an empty room. Beca walks back out to the main room just as a familiar face walks through the front door.  
"Welcome back, Bec!"  
"Dean! Hey! I was wondering when I'd see your face." Beca says, as Dean comes up and gives Beca a quick hug.  
"So, I heard you've got your own place now." He smirks giving her a sly smile.  
"Yeah, it's pretty great. But I can't help but think you may have had something to do with it." Beca says, putting her hand on her hip, squinting suspiciously at Dean.  
He grins, "Maybe…maybe not."

Beca punches him in the arm playfully, she was just too excited about everything.  
"Warren's never been one to just hand over cheques for end of year bonuses. He's the kind of guy that will put your bonus towards something you want or need. So, when he asked me what was something you wanted in life, this is what I said." Dean laughs, at Beca's surprised face, "Picked the building out and everything."  
"What! You did?" Beca asks, surprised.  
"Yeah, I remember when you reviewed the place next door. You mentioned this building and said it was in such a great location." Dean says, walking around a little.  
Beca seemed even more surprised, she doesn't even remember that, yet Dean remembered something so little in passing.  
"You're going to make a great husband one day." Beca says, seriously.  
Dean laughs and shakes his head, he was going to love having Beca back in the city. She was always a bit of riot.

"So, have you thought about how you want the building set out?" Dean asks, looking around.  
"A little, it's just the space is so massive. I wasn't expecting this much space." Beca says, looking at the approximately 10 metre by 15 metre space.  
"Well, I'll bring in a few contractors to sort out the bones of the building and we can look at getting in a designer to give you a few tips." Dean suggests, walking back towards her.  
"The contractors, yes, but I think I'm good in the design department." Beca says, confidently, "I want simple clean lines. Nothing too busy."  
"That's a good idea, it'll just take away from your pictures if we have too much going on." Dean agrees, "Have you got any ideas for you first collection?"  
Beca groans, "So many! My mind has been in overdrive since Warren dropped this bombshell on me. I have so many amazing pictures, I don't even know where to start."  
"That's ok, you don't have a time limit, so take as much time as you need." Dean smiles, knowing how many pictures Beca had stored up.

The two continue to look around at the space, imagining what it was going to look like in a few months.  
"Oh, I forget to tell you. Warren and I had a very important meeting the other day." Dean says, sounding a tiny bit excited.  
"Did you?" Beca asks, having a vague feeling where this was going.  
"Yeah, he's been really happy with my work lately and how my gut instincts seem to be spot on." He grins, gesturing to Beca, "And he's want me to start taking on some more responsibly."  
"Well that sounds like a lot work. You sure you're up for it?" Beca grins, jokingly.  
"Please, you're talking to me!" Dean says, rolling his eyes, "He says, if it works out, I'll be looking at a promotion."  
"Wow! That's amazing Dean!" Beca smiles happily, knowing the path Dean may be on in the future, "Keep it up and you could be CEO one day."  
Dean laughs heartedly, "I doubt that Bec, but I suppose I have a better chance than Luke does these days."

Beca keeps quiet on the little conversation that her and Warren had. It wasn't her place to say anything and she didn't want Dean to get overwhelmed too quickly. But she had to wonder what Dean meant about Luke.

"What do you mean?" Beca asks, tilting her head in interest.  
"Well, Warren called me last night and said Luke quit yesterday." Dean says, still sounding really surprised.  
"Wait what?!" Beca gasps, shocked, "What the hell for?"  
"I can't be totally sure because it came kind of out of the blue. Warren said he'd been acting really odd for the last six or seven months." Dean says, thoughtfully, "I don't think its common knowledge, but when you had that week off, Luke went back to a hotel with a woman he met at the pub for a late night hook-up. But he was found handcuffed to a bed the next morning covered in bite marks. His team says he wasn't the same since."  
' _Uh-oh!_ ' Beca thinks, trying to keep her face passive.  
"Oh really? I hadn't heard about that." Beca scratches her neck awkwardly.  
"Yeah, actually it was Jessica and Anthony that found him. I think Luke paid them off for their silence, might be why you hadn't heard." Dean explains, "But whatever he and that woman did in that room changed Luke. Warren said he just hasn't been the same."

All of Beca's alarm bells were ringing as Dean explains, now that Beca thought about it, Luke had been weird towards her last few months. He was fairly quiet when he was in the office and he barely said a word to Beca. Not a single fight or bitchy comment was made towards her. Of course, Beca never mentioned the fact that she knew about his late night hook-up with Amy, but maybe he was embarrassed that Beca may have known and that's why he had basically stopped speaking to her. Either way, Beca was beginning to get a little concerned about what Amy did to him.  
"Yeah, that's really weird." Beca mutters, looking out the window, "You don't think he was involved in something that was non-consensual towards him, do you?"  
"No, Warren said that he went with her willingly. Maybe she was just too much for him to handle. Either way, he's basically thrown anyway his whole career and no one's heard from him since." Dean finishes, with a sigh.  
Beca felt very uneasy about this situation, she may have hated Luke with all of her being, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. He must be going through some major stuff.  
' _What the hell did Amy do to him?'_ She thinks, concerned.


	34. Chapter 34

**Author's Notes: Good Morning you guys! Ohhh we're so close to the ending! I'm actually getting really sad about posting tomorrow hahaha. One chapter left to post :( But for today, the next chapter! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **2 months later**

When Warren Middlesworth gives a gift, he doesn't muck around. Within 8 weeks Beca's gallery was pretty much completed. Even in the January snow and chill, nothing stopped progress. The whole building had been rewired and refitted with new lights. Brand new flooring had gone down and floating walls had been strategically placed around the space to showcase Beca's work. The front wall of the building had been taken out and replaced with huge glass panels, so when you walked past you could see all of the gallery and the beauty within. Beca couldn't have been more pleased with it, it was more than she could ever let herself dream. She had an uncharacteristic smile on her face for a few days now, but then again, Beca Mitchell had a lot to smile about these days.

Over five years ago, Beca was anxious, tired and was ready to give up on her schooling. She had been broken down by her professors and didn't think she had it in her to become a great photographer. If it wasn't for the spontaneous trip her best friend sprung on her, Beca's life may be very different today. But on that trip her entire life changed by a simple act of a random person. That act reignited Beca's passion and desire to become a photographer. Never in a million years did she think she would ever meet the random person the inspired her that day, but two years later, that's exactly what happened. Chloe turned out to be more amazing than she ever dreamed. She was so kind and loving, even if it freaked Beca out to begin with. But in time she helped Beca became more open with herself and everyone around her. Even though they had their problems, Beca knew Chloe was the only thing in the world she really needed. Beca had come a long way in since that day at Niagara Falls, she had made many mistakes and fought some of her own inner battles, but she was better for it.

And now as she stands in her new Photo Gallery, she was feeling more accomplished than she had ever felt. She looks around, she was surrounded by so many beautiful pictures, each one held a story and a fantastic memory. They weren't just pictures, they were experiences and she was proud of each and every one of them.  
"It's pretty incredible." Comes a voice from behind her.  
She turns and sees her new Art Consultant walking out of the newly converted office.  
"That it is, Em that it is." Beca smiles at Emily, "Who would have thought this was even possible?"  
"I did." Emily says, confidently.  
Beca chuckles, "Did you, Em?"  
"Yeah, always. I know you always joked about it, but whenever you spoke about opening a gallery one day, your eyes would light up a little and I could see it was more than just a silly dream." Emily explains, seriously.

Beca smirks at Emily, she had become such a big part of her life. She knew Beca about as well as Stacie and Chloe. For someone who didn't particularly like people, Beca had found some people who she just couldn't live without.  
"Well, I'm glad you always knew Em, because I still don't quite believe it's real." Beca confesses with a little laugh, "I feel like I'm dreaming and I'm just going to wake up and it'll all be gone."  
Emily pinches Beca's arm, "Oooww! Jesus Emily!"  
"You're not dreaming!" Emily sniggers, gleefully at the scowling Beca.  
"Clearly!" Beca growls, though partially amused, as she rubs the spot where Emily pinched her.  
"You've worked hard, Boss and its really real!" Emily exclaims, excitedly, "So, try not to feel too overwhelmed."

"I just can't believe we're launching tonight. I didn't think we'd have it up and running this quickly." Beca admits, sitting in a nearby chair, "I was thinking it might take a lot longer than a few months."  
"Well, when Warren does something it's not by halves that's for sure." Emily says, impressed, "I'm so excited to see him tonight, it's so cool that he's flying over for opening night."  
"It's pretty cool, best boss award sure goes to him." Beca says, with a happy sigh.  
"I don't know, I think you could take that title." Emily says, grinning at Beca.  
"Kissing up to your boss will get you everywhere, so, keep it up!" Beca laughs, as she spots some of her caterers for tonight's party.  
"Don't worry, I intend on keeping my job, so expect a lot of kissing up." Emily laughs as well.

The caterers enter the building, Beca letting them into the kitchen as a few others arrive to set up. She had a bartender from Amy's club bartending tonight, and he was on strict instructions to not let Beca have any 'Shimmering Pearl's' after she got hammered on them last time. Besides, Beca had to stay sober tonight, she had to mingle with her guests and try and promote her new gallery. Not that it seemed she needed too. Beca never quite realised just how big her presence online actually got. There were millions of people who followed Beca's every adventure and were now incredibly excited to get the chance to own one of Beca's amazing pictures. Her opening was creating a lot of buzz online. Dean made Beca create a second collection, so she had back up for when her first collection sold out. The thought of it made Beca laugh really hard, but then she realised that Dean wasn't joking. A big part of her was still trying to comprehend that people actually wanted to buy her work.

"Ok Bec, the caterers are getting set up. The bartender will be here in about an hour to set up and the waiters will arrive half an hour before opening." Emily says, giving Beca the run down, "And you need to go home and get ready. It's going to be a big night."  
Beca takes a deep breath, it was going to be a big night.  
"Speaking of big nights, the office is still ready and set up about that thing we were talking about?" Beca asks, quietly.  
"It hasn't been touched since you and Stacie set it up last night, I'm the only one that's been in there." Emily assures her with an excited smile.  
"Good.. That's good." Beca mumbles, feeling all sorts of nerves starting to fill her tummy.  
"Beca, it's going to be ok." Emily smiles, as she lays a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Now go home and get ready."

…

Beca's gallery was packed, not only with her friends and family, but with art critics and art collectors. Everywhere you walked inside the gallery you could hear 'ohh's' and 'ahh's' at all the beautiful pictures hanging on the walls. Each one was unique and had just as unique stories behind it. Emily could be heard telling tales of Beca and her adventures. Something Stacie could only laugh about.  
"Who would have thought that my scaredy cat best friend would jump off a cliff into the ocean in Greece?" Stacie shoves her playfully, "Not so scared anymore these days are you shorty?"  
Beca grins, "Well, I wouldn't say I jumped off that cliff, it was more that I had a helping hand off it."  
Stacie snorts into her drink, "Let me guess, Emily shoved you off it?"  
"Yep!" Beca says, sipping her own drink before frowning, "Why does my drink taste like my brownies?"  
Stacie stares at her frowning for a second, "Of course one of your favourite tastes is your own Brownies." She shakes her head very amused.  
"What? What are you talking about?" Beca asks, very confused, before it suddenly dawns on her, "Your Harry Potter potion.."

Beca looks at the seemingly harmless looking drink then back at Stacie who was wearing a grin ear to ear.  
"You actually got it to work in drinks?" Beca asks, completely amazed.  
Stacie nods, proudly, "It took way longer than we thought it would, but we finally got it to work and it's completely safe."  
Beca looks at her friend in awe, she was completely brilliant. It was Beca's turn to be incredibly proud of her.  
"That's amazing!" Beca says, hugging her friend, "You and that big brain of yours are fucking super!"  
"Oh, why thank you!" Stacie says, pretending to blush.  
"What does yours taste like?" Beca asks, wondering how different hers would be.  
"Um.. Mine changes every now and then. Sometimes it tastes like apple pie, sometimes it tastes like coconut..." Stacie says, as she begins to blushes a little, "..and sometimes it tastes like Aubrey."  
"Tastes like Aubrey? What do you mean?" Beca asks, rather confused, before, "Wait! No! Don't answer that!"

Stacie looks at anything other than Beca, but she sips on her drink with a little smirk. Beca shakes her head, Stacie never failed in making her cringe a little.  
"You are so strange." Beca says to her friend.  
"What? I can't help what my favourite tastes are." Stacie shrugs, "She tastes good."  
Beca rolls her eyes, "Well, moving past the taste of Aubrey…"  
"Excuse me?"  
Stacie and Beca turn and see a very confused Aubrey.  
"What are you talking about?" Aubrey asks, a little alarmed.  
"Ahh… you know what.. I'm going to let Stacie answer that." Beca says, awkwardly.  
Aubrey looks at a now blushing Stacie, "Ok, we can talk about it later. Beca, I want to buy one of your pictures for my office."  
"Come on, Bree. You know you don't have to buy anything, I'll just have one made up for you." Beca says, feeling a little awkward.  
"Beca Mitchell, you are running a business. Don't be going around giving your friends freebies." She says, sternly, "I'll pay for it just like everyone else."

Beca blinks at Aubrey for a second, before realising she was right. She was running a business now and she couldn't just be giving away pictures. She may be able to one day, but for right now, she needed to stick to her business plan.  
"You're right Aubrey." Beca smiles, "I'll be happy to sell any of them to you."  
"Good!" Aubrey nods, curtly, "Now, go mingle with your guests."  
"Um.. ok." Beca says, as Aubrey shoves her off into the room.  
Beca walks around saying hello to the many people who came out to support her. It was amazing to see everyone laughing, talking and having a great time. Then she spots the most important person to come and support her tonight. Chloe was standing towards the front of the gallery talking to someone Beca didn't know. It appeared to be an art critic. But that didn't matter, what mattered was Chloe. To Beca she couldn't have looked more beautiful. She was wearing an emerald green cocktail dress that hugged her body in all the right places. Her red hair sparkled in the lights and she was wearing the most amazing smile. Chloe spots Beca approaching and excuses herself.

Beca watches her beautiful girlfriend strut over to her. The amazing smile hadn't left her lips. It was making Beca knees a little weak as a little grin spreads over Beca's face.  
"So, I've been hearing that the photographer who owns this place is like crazy talented." She says, linking her her arm in Beca's.  
"Really? I heard she was little cloud of moodiness." Beca says, making Chloe laugh.  
"Well, I've heard that too, but I think it just adds to her artistic persona." Chloe says, pretending to be amazed.  
"Sounds like you're in love with her." Beca says, suspiciously.  
"I am!" Chloe says, causing Beca to gasp dramatically.  
"I think my heart just broke!" Beca clutches her chest, making Chloe throw her head back laughing.

The two lean in and share a quick kiss, giggling into each other. As delighted as Beca was at how many people showed up tonight, Beca would have rather it have been just her and Chloe. She couldn't wait to have her to herself later.  
"There are so many people here." Chloe says, looking around.  
"I know! I didn't even realise this many people knew about me." Beca says, a little overwhelmed.  
"It just means people are excited to share in your experiences. It's pretty incredible." Chloe says, looking up at one of Beca's pictures.  
Beca smiles as she looks around the room, she sees so many people that meant a lot to her. Warren and Dean were by the bar having an animated conversation, Stacie and Aubrey were smiling and loving it up towards the back of the room and Benji was watching Emily in awe as she commands attention with her stories about all of Beca's pieces. Even Bev was here with one of her many man friends. They had all come to show their support to Beca.  
"Oh good, Luisa is here." Chloe says, smiling.  
"That's a sentence I never thought would ever come out of your mouth." Beca says, surprised, as she turns to see the beautiful blonde walking around the gallery.  
"Well, you know, she's actually really nice. She sent me a message a few months ago saying she would be in New York and was wanted to meet for coffee to apologise for getting me drunk." Chloe explains, happily.

That surprises Beca, Luisa rarely apologised for her shenanigans. As nice of a person she was, she genuinely enjoy messing with people.  
"Why is this that first I'm hearing of it?" Beca asks, a little amused and a little surprised.  
"Well, she thought you might have an aneurysm if you knew." Chloe laughs, at Beca's face, "She said you warned her to not mess with me ever again."  
Beca in fact did warn Luisa, she rang her not long after the drunken incident and told her Chloe was off limits with her mischievous behaviour.  
"And you're friends now?" Beca asks, now just surprised.  
"I guess, we message each other every now and then. She's super sweet and really funny, you know, when she's not messing with you." Chloe explains, with a laugh.  
"Yeah, I know she can be. But after everything that happened, I just didn't think you would ever get to a point where you could trust her." Beca says, wondering what happened when they met for coffee.  
"Yeah, I wasn't sure if I could, but we had a really good chat and sorted a lot of stuff out." Chloe assures her, "I'm going to go say hello."  
"Ok." Beca says, startled.

Beca watches Chloe approach Luisa, she couldn't help but be surprised as the two hug like they were old friends and start having a very excited conversation. It was a very odd sight, but Beca didn't have much time to dwell on the fact that her girlfriend is now friends with her old high school crush, because Amy just walked in with a familiar face draped on her arm. Emily appears next to Beca in an instant.  
"Oh my god! You're seeing this, aren't you?" She gasps, in shock, grabbing Beca's arm.  
"My eyes are seeing it, but my brain can't comprehend it." Beca says, who was just equally as shocked.  
Amy spots them and walks over, bringing her date with her.  
"Hey you guys, how's the party going?" She says, not noticing how shocked Emily and Beca looked.  
"Aahhh…." Beca starts, before shaking her head, "..Good…good, thank you for letting me use your bartender."  
"Anything for you, Small Fry." Amy says, dismissively, but then notices Emily staring at her uncomfortable looking date, "Oh, you guys remember Luke?"  
Emily and Beca nod, feeling just as uncomfortable as Luke looked. His face was bright red and he was looking anywhere other than at his former employees.  
"Luke called me a few weeks ago and asked if I had any positions going, says he needed a change in career. So he has come to work for me." Amy explains, trying to pass over the awkward silence, "Haven't you, Luke?"  
He nods quietly, seemingly too embarrassed to talk.  
"At your club?" Emily asks, frowning confused.  
Amy looks at Emily, giving her a calculating look, "You could say that."

Beca and Emily stare at the two frowning, not even sure what to say next. They weren't overly sure they wanted to know what kind of work Luke was now doing for Amy. But despite his red face, he appears to be here willingly. Maybe Amy just gave him something he didn't know he needed in his life.  
"Now things are really going well and with Memories being the best club in the city at the moment, I thought a new employee could help. And Luke has great management skills. It'll help take Memories to the next level." She smiles warmly at Luke, though nobody else felt warm, "And that's not even the best news. As a congratulations gift for my business doing so amazingly, my dad's buying me a penthouse over on Fifth Ave."  
"Wow!" Emily says, impressed, "That's incredible!"  
Even Beca was a little at a lose for words, from what Aubrey told them, Amy's family had no link to any annual income. A Fifth Ave penthouse was nothing short of a small fourtune. Again, Beca begins to get a very unsettled about Amy. A part of her really wanted to believe that Amy wasn't involved in anything illegal, but things don't exactly add up. But other than Amy having her followed around Europe for her supposed 'safety', she hadn't done anything else to make her feel unsafe. Maybe Beca was just over thinking it and should just let Amy be who she is, an Enigma.  
"Who knows, if Luke's new position doesn't work out, I might make him my very personal assistant." Amy jokes, giving Luke a little nudge.  
Luke burns red again, but doesn't says anything. Despite his embarrassment, he pulls Amy a little closer. There was obviously something between them.  
"Well, we're going to look around. See ya guys!" Amy smiles, at her friend's confused faces.  
Emily and Beca watch them go, very stunned at that interaction.  
"That was weird." Emily says, after a moment.  
"I was present for that conversation, but I don't think I'm mentally prepared to comprehend it yet." Beca says, frowning, wondering if she just had a fever dream.

…

It was a few hours later and almost everyone had left. Chloe walks around the gallery cleaning a little from a very successful opening. Beca had sold everything and had orders on her second collection. She couldn't have been prouder of Beca, she had come so far and standing in her new Photo Gallery was evidence to that. Chloe smiles to herself, her life had changed a lot since she met Beca. She was finally feeling whole again, she knew she still had her issues, but she was accepting them and working through them. She knew Beca wouldn't leave her again and she knew nothing would come between them ever again. Chloe reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a small box. A little smile sparkles on her lips as she opens the box to reveal the ring she bought a few years ago. It was time she finally gave it to the woman she loved.

Chloe suddenly hears footsteps from behind her, she shuts the box and quickly puts it back in her pocket. She turns to see Emily approaching her.  
"Hey Chloe, it was a great night, hey?" Emily says, smiling.  
"Really great, I'm so proud of Becs!" Chloe gushes, happily.  
"We still have a lot of work to do, but I think Beca's got a very long career ahead of her. So I hope you're ready for some really cool adventures?" Emily says, excitedly.  
"Oh my gosh! Yes! Hearing your stories tonight has got me all worked up for it." Chloe laughs, joyfully.  
Emily lets out a bit of a yawn, "Well, I'm going to head off. Benji will be at home already."  
"Oh ok, thanks for all your help, Emily. I know Beca really appreciates it." Chloe smiles, sincerely.  
"You're welcome!" Emily smiles, broadly, "Oh, before I go, Beca wants to see you in the office. Goodnight!"  
"Goodnight Emily." Chloe waves her off, happy to know it was just Beca and her left in the gallery.

She begins to walk back towards the office, noticing how quiet it seemed. She gets closer to the door and sees a few rose petals on the ground. She looks towards the door and she sees more. Chloe's heart starts to thump, something was about to happen. Her hand starts to shake as it lands on the door handle. She takes a deep breath and opens the door, before letting out a gasp. She enters the office, seeing the lights had been dimmed and there were several candles giving off a romantic glow. There were more rose petals scattered over the floor, leading up to a very nervous looking Beca Mitchell.  
"What's going on?" Chloe ask, nervously, as she walks towards Beca, noticing Beca's most prize picture of Chloe on the wall behind her.  
Beca smiles, reaching her hand out to take Chloe's and bringing her closer to her. Beca looks deep into Chloe's electric blue eyes, she could see Chloe was looking a little nervous. It was nothing compared to how Beca currently felt.

"Hi." Beca grins, as she feels her heart pounding.  
"Hi!" Chloe giggles, nervously, "I see you've moved my picture to your office."  
Both women look up at the picture on the wall, it was the start of their life together.  
"Back then, I was a pessimistic and anxious person who was too scared to take a risk in any part of my life. Then you came along, I never thought that a chance encounter could change my life. But, that's exactly what happened." Beca smiles, clutching Chloe's hands a little tighter, Chloe turns and looks back at Beca with beautiful smile.  
"I can't imagine how different my life would be now if we hadn't of crossed paths that day. You have made me a better version of myself, and I never want to go back to the person I was." Beca continues, being as honest as she could.  
Chloe's eyes begin to prick with tears as Beca starts to bare her soul, "I feel the same about you."  
"And this place, this gallery and every picture in it, it's here because of you. Because you inspire me to be the best I can be and I can move forward in this world knowing that you have my back on everything." Beca says, feeling her nervousness starting to ease a little.

A few tears begin to fall down Chloe's face, as Beca continues.  
"I know we've had our problems and our relationship isn't perfect, but I don't want us to be perfect. I want us to be..well us, in all our glorious weirdness." Beca says, earnestly, making Chloe giggle, "You make me happier than I ever thought possible. You're everything I never knew I needed"  
Beca then reaches into her pocket and drops to her knee. Chloe really starts to cry as she covers her mouth in disbelief. Beca pulls out a small black ring box.  
"Chloe Beale, you are the love of my life and I never want to be without you. Will you do me the most tremendous honour and be my wife?" Beca asks, holding out the ring box.

Chloe was shocked, she hadn't expected Beca to propose to her. Beca Mitchell was always full of surprises. But as Chloe looks down at the love of her life beaming up at her, there was only one answer that Chloe could give.  
"Yes!" She shouts, tearfully, dragging Beca up so she could kiss her.  
The kiss was full of excitement and joy as tears continue to stream down Chloe's face. Beca then pulls the ring out of the box to put it on Chloe's finger.  
"Oh Becs, it's beautiful!" Chloe gasps, as Beca slides the ring onto her finger.  
"It's one of a kind, just like you!" Beca says, sweetly, making Chloe lean and kiss her again.

With the sudden proposal from Beca, Chloe had forgotten about the small box in her own pocket. She had intended of proposing herself tonight, but Beca beat her to it. Her smile suddenly gets even wider as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small ring box.  
"I was going to take you for walk through Central Park tonight and give you this.." Chloe laughs, sniffing away her happy tears, "..But you beat me to it."  
Beca inhales sharply as she sees Chloe holding her own ring box. Chloe opens the box to reveal a gold band with a single diamond. It was simple and elegant, exactly what Beca would have chosen for herself.  
"What?" Beca says, stunned, thinking she was the only one that had been thinking of marriage.  
Chloe gives a shaky laugh, "I bought this ring not long after we said I love you to each other. I knew back then I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. But then life itself got in the way a bit. But, I kept it hoping one day I could finally give it to you."

To say Beca was shocked was an understatement. Chloe bought this ring two and half years ago. She wanted to marry Beca back then.  
"Why didn't you tell me back then?" Beca asks, staring at the ring in Chloe's hand.  
"Well you were still kind of a flight risk." Chloe laughs, making Beca laugh.  
Beca nods, "Yeah, that's fair."  
"I had planned to give it to you on our one year anniversary, but we never quite made it." Chloe admits, sadly, "But, it doesn't matter anymore. We're together again and nothing will ever tear us apart."  
Chloe takes the ring and slides it onto Beca's finger. The two couldn't help but beam at each other. They had only the best of years ahead of them, and they were going to do it together. Because when they were together, life became an amazing adventure.

 **In the next chapter, an epilogue. A glimpse into their future.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Author's Notes: Well you guys, this is it. The final chapter. :( I'm so sad this story is coming to an end. I've had so much fun writing this for you guys and so thankful you all enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'll be writing anymore fanfiction for a while, thinking of working on something more original. But thank you all for the amazing support on this story. I hope you enjoy the final chapter. See you guys later :)**

* * *

 **5 years later**

If you were to walk into Beca Mitchell's New York Photo Gallery, you would find only the most beautiful of pictures on her walls. Pictures she had taken on some of the most epic of adventures. Each and every one of them had a story to tell. Some of them you could simply stare at for hours and not get bored and others you could look at several times and always see something new. Beca Mitchell prided herself in knowing that each picture that she hung in her gallery could have the potential to change the outlook of someone's life. Whether it was to inspire them to travel or just to find the beauty in something they never knew existed. She tries to create awe and wonder for every visitor that comes through her doors. This was the reason why Beca Mitchell had become so successful and is now a world renowned photographer.

Her office held countless awards and accolades that she had achieved over the years. Something Beca had always felt a little uncomfortable about them. She didn't take pictures to achieve awards, she took them so people could see more of the world and see beauty that was undiscovered. But of all the pictures Beca took, her favourites weren't hung in her gallery, or even in her office. They were on her wall at home. They weren't pictures of beautiful landscapes or of amazing architecture. They were of the ones she loved the most, her friends and her family and her beautiful wife. These were the pictures Beca loved the most and considered her best work.

And this is where we find Beca Mitchell, some five years after the opening of her gallery. Sitting in her living room, looking up at all her glorious pictures. They were all there, pictures of her and Stacie from when they were teenagers and all through their almost 20 years together. There were pictures of Aubrey and Amy, who had become such a vital part of Beca's life. (Yes, Amy Jones was still a vital part in Beca's life. It took a while but Beca eventually forgave her) There were pictures of Emily and Benji with their one year old son and pictures of Dean pulling Beca into a hug that she didn't want. They were all memories that Beca cherished, but none of them compared to the ones of her amazing wife. Beca smiles up at those pictures, there were so many, but that didn't matter to Beca. There were ones from when from the first year they met, ones from when they were dating, even ones from their wedding. But right in the centre of all of the pictures, hung Beca's favourite. The boat picture, the one of her reckless woman. If anyone asked which one her favourite was, it was that one, the one that started it all.

"Do you ever get sick of looking at that picture?" Chloe asks, coming in to the living room of their four bedroom apartment they bought two years ago.  
"Nope! The chick in the picture is really hot!" Beca smirks, as Chloe comes and sits beside Beca.  
"Really?" Chloe looks up and pulls a face, "I just don't see it, maybe it's because I don't have a thing for redheads."  
"Luckily, I do." Beca grins, cheekily, putting her arm Chloe and pulling her in close.  
"Yeah?" Chloe asks, with a little purr.  
"Yeah, I liked her so much, I married her." Beca smiles, very pleased with herself.  
"Well then, isn't she lucky?" Chloe giggles, taking Beca's face and kissing her deeply.

The two continue kissing, it still felt like it did when they first started dating. Both of them still felt butterflies and swooning when they were together. They still loved spending every minute with each other. Over the past five years, Beca and Chloe had gone on many adventures together. Beca kept her promise and Chloe came on every trip after Beca returned home to New York. They've gone all over the world together and it's only brought them closer together.  
"I wish we could stay like this all night." Beca mutters, pulling away slightly.  
"Me too, but everyone will be here soon." Chloe says, knowing all their friends would be here in a minute or so.  
"Why did we invite them over again?" Beca groans, trying to capture Chloe's lips again.  
Chloe giggles, "You know why."  
"Yeah, yeah!" Beca rolls her eyes, "They're lucky we love them."  
"Besides, Aubrey wants to go over some more wedding stuff tonight as well." Chloe says, snuggling into Beca.  
"They aren't getting married for a year and a half, why are you going over it already?" Beca says, exasperatedly.  
"Becs, its Aubrey!" Chloe says, seriously.  
"Touché."

 ***knock knock***

"They're here!" Chloe says, pushing Beca back and getting up to answer the door.  
Beca groans loudly, as Chloe laughs and shushes her. Beca watches Chloe run off to the door. Beca couldn't help but smile. Even though Chloe was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, to Beca she simply glowed. That beautiful woman was her wife and Beca was incredibly proud of that.  
"Hey you guys!" Chloe says, as she opens the door to find Stacie, Aubrey and Amy.  
"Hey Chloe!"  
"Come in, it's cold in the hall." Chloe says, ushering them in.  
They come in and hang up their coats, and go and say hello to Beca. They all continue talking just waiting for Emily and Benji to arrive.  
"Chloe, we have to go over colour schemes tonight." Aubrey says, importantly.  
"That's fine, Bree." Chloe smiles, nothing could dull her mood tonight.  
"I also have bridesmaid dress ideas, but they'll have to match the theme. We also need to look…" Aubrey continues to a smiling Chloe.  
"I still can't believe you guys are getting married." Beca mutters to Stacie, as much as she loved Aubrey, they were still an odd pairing.  
"I still can't believe she wants to marry me. I got lucky." Stacie says, watching her fiancé with an adoring look.

Twenty minutes later, Benji and Emily arrived with their son, Henry. Henry immediately toddles over to Beca and hugs her legs. It was still weird to everyone that this little kid was so obsessed with Beca, seeing as she didn't do well with most people. But Beca would always laugh and says Henry just had a good judge of character.  
"Henry!" Beca says, scooping up the little boy, who had black curly hair.  
Henry giggles and latches around Beca's neck. He grabs at her hair as Beca tickles his belly.  
"Bu..bu..bu." He says, attempting to talk.  
"Beca…Bec..ca…" Beca says, walking around her living room trying to teach Henry her name.  
"I never thought a kid would like Beca that much." Amy mutters to Stacie, who sniggers and nods her head.  
"I know! No kid liked her that much when we were in school." Stacie whispers, giggling.  
"You know I can hear you!" Beca says, grumpily, with Henry now trying to eat her hair.

After a few minutes of pleasant greetings, Chloe has everyone sit down. She and Beca had an announcement. Chloe was absolutely beside herself with excitement, even Beca had a huge smile on her face.  
"Ok, now that all of you are here. Except Dean, he's busy being a CEO." Chloe says, pointing out the absence of Dean, "We have an announcement to make."  
"You guys aren't moving, are you?" Stacie asks, worriedly, knowing they do like to go on long adventures.  
"No, we are staying here in New York, in fact, we won't be going on another trip for quite a while." Beca says, reaching down and grabbing Chloe's hand.  
"Wait…Really?" Emily asks, concerned, "You're not closing the gallery, are you?"  
"No, we're not. We're just taking a little break." Chloe smiles, looking at Beca with glee, "We've started working on a new project."

Everyone looks at them wondering what they were talking about, except Amy who was squinting at Chloe suspiciously.  
"Chloe's pregnant." She says, causing the whole room to look at her in surprise.  
"Damn it, Amy!" Beca shouts, half annoyed and half amused, while Chloe shakes her head knowing she couldn't get anything past Amy even if she tried.  
"What?! She's been eating like 3 burgers a day lately, it wasn't that hard to figure out." Amy says, defensively.  
"Yeah well, you could have just waited till we announced it." Chloe says, playfully scolding her friend.  
"Wait!" Aubrey stands up with a serious look on her face, "You're really pregnant?"  
Beca and Chloe look at each other, both grinning from ear to ear.  
"We're having a baby!" They shout together.

The room erupts in cheers as they all come and hug the expecting couple. They were all so excited.  
"How far along?" Benji asks Chloe.  
"We just past the first trimester. We're sorry it took so long to tell you guys. But with me being a little older, we had some risks. But everything is going really well." Chloe says, patting her tiny little belly.  
"Oh Henry! You're going to have a new little playmate soon!" Benji says, scooping Henry into his arms, "We can teach them magic too!"  
Aubrey immediately started suggesting vitamins for Chloe and telling her she'll organise her an eating plan. Stacie and Amy simply couldn't believe that they were having a baby, and were talking about how awesome it was that they were going to be Aunts. Emily hugs Beca and starts babbling about all the future play dates they would have. Beca couldn't help but smile, she really picked the best people to have in her life. This baby would have the greatest family, they would have so much love and support. They will always feel wanted and that made Beca incredibly happy.

…

 **3 months later**

Chloe waddles through the apartment and into the kitchen at 3am, hoping to find something amazing to eat. She raids the fridge and finds ice cream. She raids the cupboards and finds potato chips. She looks at the two items, her brain is telling her it's a bad idea and nothing good would come from it, but her stomach just gives an aggressive rumble.  
"Fuck it!" Chloe says, breaking open the ice cream and busting opened the chips.  
Chloe proceeds to dig the chips into the ice cream. She puts in her mouth and is given an explosion of salty and sweet, crunchy and cold. It was better than she was expecting.  
"I wonder if it's good because I'm pregnant." Chloe thinks out loud, as she digs more chips into the ice cream.  
Chloe continues to eat, making satisfied moans after each chip and ice cream combo goes into her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Comes a sleepy voice from behind her.  
Chloe jumps and turns around, "Beca! Oh you scared me!"  
"Sorry." She grins, sleepily, as she walks over and kisses Chloe and then leans down and kiss her developing belly.  
"I got hungry." Chloe explains, putting more chips and ice cream into her mouth.  
Beca snorts, "Plain salted chips and vanilla ice cream. Is it good?"  
"Soooo good!" Chloe grunts, as she throws her head back.

Beca couldn't help but smile, Chloe had been coming up with some very weird combinations since she fell pregnant. Her favourite one Chloe came up with was Twinkies and ranch dressing. Beca was completely disgusted and amused at the same time.  
"I hope this isn't as bad as when you thought Doritos would go well in clam chowder." Beca says, eyeing the chips and ice cream cautiously.  
"Excuse me! That was amazing!" Chloe argues, her little belly wobbling, "Even Amy ate it with me."  
"Yeah, but Amy's Australian, she's always up for a challenge." Beca says, seriously, "How do you think she managed to get Luke Middlesworth, a self proclaimed narcissistic pretty boy, to become her 'live in maid'?"  
Chloe shudders, "I still don't even know what to call their relationship."  
"Hey, if they're happy, who are we to judge?" Beca shrugs, before putting her hand on Chloe's belly, "We just won't let Aunty Amy babysit at her house."

Chloe's belly jiggles as she laughs and nods her head. She continues to chow down on the ice cream and chips. She lets out another satisfied moan and starts to dance around the kitchen, making Beca laugh as she watches her wife sway her hips.  
"I've never seen you dance from eating. Damn, it must be good." Beca says, thinking her wife couldn't be more beautiful then she is right now.  
"Becs, if you don't try one right now, I'm going to be so mad." Chloe says, pointing at the food.  
"Ok, I'll try one. But if it's shit, you're taking me out for breakfast." Beca says, seriously, as she picks up a chip and uses it to scoop out some ice cream.  
Beca eyes it uneasily, ' _How bad could it be?_ '  
She puts the whole thing in her mouth and is incredibly surprised at how good it is.  
"Oh damn! That's good!" Beca says, really surprised.  
Chloe nods with a smug look on her face, "Told you!"

…

 **3 months later**

Chloe sits on the couch with her feet up in Beca's office at their New York Gallery. She tiredly rubs her very swollen belly, feeling dull pains every now and then. She was extremely close to her due date and was very ready for this baby to come out. Beca couldn't help but stare lovingly at her pregnant wife. Beca could honestly say that she had never been more beautiful.  
"Becs, stop giving me that look, I don't know how on earth you could find all of this attractive." Chloe huffs, as she catches Beca giving her a longing look.  
"Chlo, you're growing our child. I beyond attracted to all of this!" Beca says, gesturing to all of Chloe.  
"But I feel so fat!" Chloe cries, letting her lips pout.

Beca gets up and sits on the edge of the couch by Chloe. Beca kisses her forehead, then kisses her lips. She moves down and kisses her neck, and finally kissing the top of Chloe's belly.  
"I love all of this!" Beca says, sweetly.  
I didn't matter how terrible Chloe felt about her body, Beca had been so loving and attentive towards her. It always made Chloe feel better about herself. Beca rubs little circles on Chloe's belly.  
"Maybe when we get home, we can try some other techniques to induce labour." Beca purrs, with a wink, "If you know what I mean."  
"I can leave, you know?" Emily says, awkwardly, as she swings her chair around, guessing that they had forgotten she was in the room.  
Chloe snorts, "We're talking about taking the stairs to get up to the apartment."  
Emily rolls her eyes, "Sure you are! I swear after five years, you two have just gotten way too comfortable with me being in the room with you."  
"Sorry Emily!" Beca sings, with an amused grin, "I just can't help it, Chloe is just so beautiful."  
Beca leans down and kisses her belly again. Suddenly…

 ***POP***

"What was that?" Beca says, concerned.  
Chloe's eyes widen in surprise, as she feels a warm flood, "I think my water just broke!"  
"What? I broke your water with my kiss?" Beca says, a little stunned.  
"It's not the first thing you broke while kissing me." Chloe jokes, before feeling a searing pain, "Aaahhhhhh..FUCK!"  
Beca jumps up, "Oh shit! It's starting! Not now! The baby's not supposed to here for a few more days!"  
Chloe tries not to move on the couch as she tries to breathe through the first contraction. She'd had a few pains throughout most of the day, but she knew that was normal. She didn't think her water would break.  
Beca grabs Chloe's hand as she tries to help Chloe through it, but on the inside she was completely melting down. She had mentally prepared herself for this day, but now it was here, it was so overwhelming.  
"We have to get you to the hospital! We have to get all of your stuff! We have to call the doctor!" Beca rambles as Chloe squeezes her hand harder, "I'm not sure we're ready yet!"  
"Beca! Stop panicking!" Emily says, grabbing Beca's shoulder, "He or she is ready to come out whether you're ready of not! Now pull your shit together! Your wife is having a God Damn baby!"

Beca stares at Emily a stunned, it was rare that Emily was so assertive. Beca nods as she tries to breathe and calm herself down. She had to remember she wasn't the one going into labour. Chloe lets go of Beca's hand and calms her own breathing as the pain subsides.  
"I need new pants." She says, sadly, looking down.  
Emily walks back over to her desk and grabs some sweat pants out of the draw.  
"Here Chloe, wear these. I have them here in case I work late."  
Beca and Emily help Chloe into the dry pants, before helping her out onto the street where Beca hails a cab.  
"I will go to apartment and grab everything you guys need." Emily says, keeps her arm around Chloe as Beca frantically dashes back to help Chloe into the cab.  
"Come on, Chlo." Beca says, easing her into the car.  
"Ooohhh… aaahhhh!" Chloe clutches her belly in pain.  
"Oh fuck!" Beca says, panicking, thinking that the contractions seem very close together.  
"Beca! Pull it together!" Emily says, sternly, "Time the contractions and tell the doctors when you get there. I'll meet you at the hospital."  
Beca nods pulling out her phone as she slides into the cab next to Chloe.  
"Hospital please! And make it fast!" Beca says to the cab driver, as he speeds off into traffic.

...

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET THIS BABY OUT OF ME!" Chloe screams in the labour ward.  
Beca was beyond words at this point, because Chloe had a hold of Beca's hand so tight that she may have already broken a few of her fingers. All Beca could do was be there for Chloe and not say anything that could get her whole hand broken.  
"You're doing great, Mrs Mitchell, two more pushes and the baby will be here." The doctor assures her.  
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Chloe screams, as she pushes down, while crushing Beca's hand even further.  
"That's it, Chlo! You're doing amazingly!" Beca says, with a strained voice, pretending she wasn't in any pain, "Only one more push."  
"I can't…Becs….I can't…" she pants, heavily, shaking her head, beads of sweat rolling down her face.  
"I know, babe, I know you're tired. But I need you to push one more time, ok? Just one more push and we meet our baby." Beca says, gently before snatching her crumbled hand back and letting it regain some sort of feeling.

Chloe pants, her red hair was wet from sweat. She was so exhausted from pushing and from all the pain. She had never experienced pain like this before.  
"Chlo, you've got this!" Beca says, encouragingly, wiping back some of her hair and giving her hand back to Chloe, "One more push."  
Chloe nods, gathering what little strength she had left in her. She pushes down, while crushing Beca's hand. She screams loud as the baby enters the world. The next thing they hear is the most beautiful sound, the cry of their brand new baby. Chloe throws herself back against the bed, trying to catch her breath.  
"Chloe! You did it!" Beca cheers, as she watches the doctors clean up the baby, "I'm so proud of you!"  
"Becs?" Chloe pants, her voice sounding very weak.  
"Yeah, Chlo?" Beca says, grabbing her hand, gently brushing her hair out of her face.  
"You're having the next one!" She says, seriously, looking Beca dead in the eye.

Beca nodded and agreed, because who would argue with a woman who just had a baby. A big grin spreads over Beca's face, her wife was so amazing. She couldn't have been prouder even if she tried.  
"Do you hear that, Chloe? That's our baby!" Beca says, still hearing the crying.  
Chloe breathes deeply as she listens to the cry, it was so beautiful. It was clear that their baby had big healthy lungs. The doctor brings over their baby.  
"Congratulations Mums', it's a girl." He smiles, as he lays her in Chloe's arms.  
It's a girl. The most euphoric feeling washes over Beca and Chloe as they gaze down at their baby girl. She had the cutest little button nose, the chubbiest cheeks with the reddest hair Beca had ever seen. She definitely took after Chloe.  
"She looks like you." Beca says, her voice becoming thick with emotion.  
Beca had witnessed the most beautiful sights the world had to offer, but none were as beautiful as the one she was seeing now. Nothing would ever compare to the sight of her incredible wife holding their beautiful daughter.

The baby girl's crying begins to stop as Chloe holds her close to her chest.  
"She's amazing!" Chloe whispers, as their new daughter starts to open her eyes.  
She looks up at her parents for the first time. Tears begin to stream down Beca's face as little noises come out of her daughter's mouth. She had never felt such love for someone she just met. Yet, there she was and Beca knew that she would do everything in her power to protect this child.  
"Elizabeth." Beca says, saying the name that she and Chloe had decided if she was going to be a girl.  
"It's so perfect." Chloe says, as she gazes down at her baby, not able to tear her eyes away.  
"Hi Elizabeth, this amazing woman is your mum and I'm your other mum." Beca says, smiling, "We promise not to confuse you."

Chloe giggles as Elizabeth stares up at her two mothers. She didn't know it yet, but she was going to have the greatest life. She was going to see everything the world had to offer, but still get to grow up in the one of the coolest cities on the planet. She would have cousins to play with and maybe even a little brother or sister one day. She would get to go on adventures and get to have dreams of her own. All the while being loved and supported by two loving parents that would never leave her and that would never let her feel unloved. Because she was the best thing that had ever been created.

Beca gazes over at Chloe, as exhausted as she was, Beca hadn't ever seen her look this happy. Through Beca's tears, the sweetest of smiles twinkles on her lips as she watches Chloe, Chloe was no longer just the woman in the picture. She was Beca's best friend, her wife and now the mother of her child. Beca was more in awe of Chloe today than the first time she laid eyes on her.  
"Chloe?" Beca says, sweetly.  
"Yeah?" Chloe looks up at Beca, who still had tears streaming down her face.  
"Are you ready for our biggest adventure yet?" Beca asks, feeling beyond happy.  
Chloe smiles down at their baby and then back up at her wife, "I'm ready."  
The two women beam at each other in blissful happiness, because they knew that out of all their adventures they would have, none would ever be as great as this one.


End file.
